Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth of Sephiroth
by Levuica
Summary: Five years after his first defeat Sephiroth attempts once more to become a God. Chapter 10, Nightmare Sephiroth vs Cloud.
1. Sacrifice

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth Chapter 1: Sacrifice

Darkness…pain…fury.

Mother! My Mother! What plagues you?

Darkness…pain…fury.

Mother…speak to me.

Darkness…pain…fury.

CLOUD! I'll destroy you! Mother! MOTHER!

Darkness…pain…fury…life.

Yes! Mother! I understand!

Mother. Where do you reside strongest besides me?

I understand. He will work.

Far in the frozen north by the Bone Village a body stumbled on shore. A hideous mass of rotten flesh and the vague appearance of a man lumbered onshore. Brutally wounded and flesh torn from his body the monster wore a blood stained lab coat. It groaned and gasped in an otherworldly voice. As it waded out of the clear blue water and onto a sandy shore the pile of flesh let out an unearthly scream, "MOTHER!" 

The monster was no doubt the remains of the scientist Hojo. Hojo was defeated five years ago by AVALANCHE. The scientist injected himself with a large dose of Jenova cells and mutated through several forms before he was finally defeated. Hojo however was immortal now. The wicked scientist whose life was filled with cruel experiments and murder had produced not only the foulest creations to plague Gaia, but its suffering. As a scientist seeking immortality he resurrected Vincent Valentine and used his body for animal experiments. Vincent Valentine was resurrected, his aging stopped and he was infused with Chaos DNA. Hojo regarded Vincent Valentine as a success and performed brutal and painful experiments on himself. Blessed with immortality and his body from aging he was infused with animal DNA. Hojo's sickening experiments turned him into a monster like Vincent Valentine, but one thing separated Vincent and Hojo still. Upon infusing himself with Jenova cells in Midgar, Hojo was able to increase his power dramatically. He became immortal and immensely powerful, but it proved ultimately too weak and he took refuge from the climatic battle and uploaded his spirit to the World Network; leaving behind a soul-less body.

The infusion of Jenova cells in his body reached Sephiroth and Sephiroth was able to influence and eventually control Hojo's body. Hojo made his way through the water towards Sephiroth who was encased in the Mako in the Northern Crater.

"MOTHER!" he screamed again. The body of Hojo was a decaying mass of injured flesh that resembled an undead zombie of Hell. With no humanity left inside him he was without thought or needs, other then Reunion.

As the body headed towards Bone Village a collection of fiends blocked his path. A pack of feral wolves set their sights upon Hojo and circled their lumbering prey.

Sephiroth! Give up! We will pursue you until Jenova is destroyed!

This is disgusting. You've lost your humanity for sure.

Hojo let out an animalistic growl and his body started to quiver as green hand pushed against his stomach from inside. It tore and scratched and burst through his own stomach as a long limb and gave off a foul odor that was poisonous to breath in. The wolves backed away from Hojo, but their growls and movements were clearly ordered and unified.

Sephiroth! All your pawns and manifestations will be defeated! No matter what it takes! You will be defeated!

Aeris and Zack. Your presence is but an inconvenience.

Hojo's protruding new limb expelled a quick shot of black acid that landed on the wolves and instantly started to burn them away. The flesh of the wolves were exposed and then blood poured from their bodies. They fell to the ground almost instantly, their bodies decaying at an accelerated rate. Even the bones were dissolved into nothing. Within seconds only blackish ooze remained from where the wolves once remained. The lumbering body of Hojo used the tentacle-like hand and began to feed on the ooze. The body of Hojo started to regenerate, the flesh began to mend and skin reformed over his body. Feasting on it his body started to resemble less like a monster and more humanoid in appearance.

Is that all the planet can do to resist me? Mother is pleased.

Once more, but with greater ease and partially restored legs the monstrous Hojo crept towards Bone Village. The grass died and it to was absorbed into Hojo. Flowers wilted and decayed into nothing. Even mighty ancient trees rotted and fell before Hojo's path of destruction. Everything which touched him simply died from his poison.

As he clear cut a path of death towards the village the planet once again began to cry. Once more Jenova threatened its existence. However, no longer could its cries be heard. The planet was in a state of recovery, but it was very weak. Even as Jenova was purified by the Lifestream and Geostigma was wiped out; Sephiroth remained. Sephiroth continued to restrict the flow of the Lifestream just as before, preventing the Lifestream from purifying life until Sephiroth's will had once again been defeated.

Hojo's body was a mere shell of its former glory, devoid of a soul. The cells of Jenova in the tainted body and the immortality that came with it was the only thing allowing Sephiroth to manipulate him. Sephiroth was no longer foolish as before, his will was regained and he knew that this would be possibly his final chance to be reborn. Unlike the three manifestations before him, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, he was already dealing with a body that had Jenova cells present. Hojo's unique ability to change and transform was a blessing to Sephiroth. His father's body was the shell he needed to complete his mission and become a God. The desire for Reunion was strong in Hojo, but still fragments of SOLDIER existed. Sephiroth would be able to control these far inferior beings to destroy Cloud.

Reunion draws near! Suffer my fury Gaia!

Sephiroth lay in the crystallized Mako, but his will was still powerful enough to disrupt the flow of the Lifestream. His consciousness was abstract and unified with all pieces of Jenova. Even though the Lifestream was purified the viral Jenova cells still infected a few select beings on Gaia. They were all in SOLDIER. They were Jenova.

Far off in Kalm town a group of Ex-SOLDIERs had taken up residence. One with bright blue eyes that shone even brighter then Cloud's eyes. They staked out a rough existence as a band of hunters. A black-haired man who stood around five-foot seven was their leader. Often seen with a heavy trench coat and a large machine gun he was quite intimidating. A powerhouse of the Ex-SOLDIERs he has his code name tattooed onto his forehead in kanji, "Oni".

The second man was clad in a trench coat and wielded two katanas as weapons. A sleek tall build and strong arms and legs screamed out his power through his coat. His face covered by fine long black hair his eyes did not seem often visible. His hair went down all the way to his nose in the front and was braided into a long ponytail that went down to his butt. He is lightning fast and extremely skilled with his blades.

The third member was a blonde-haired girl in a trench coat. Her face was hidden behind a black skin-tight face mask that hid her entire face in but two sharp blue eyes stood out from behind the mask as if they glowed. She seemingly possessed no weapons, but being the shortest member of the group at a mere four foot ten inches she stood out against her taller companions.

Inside a spacious cottage the three were asleep in three separate beds, side by side. The dark room was devoid of any light, but a deep rough voice called out in the darkness.

"Oni."

The sound of thick blankets being pulled back filled the room and in the darkness a figure sat up in bed. A soft and sweet voice filled the air, a woman's voice, "Han go back to bed." Then silence, for several minutes.

From the middle bed a rustling sound broke the silence, the tall figure of a man stood up over the right-most bed, his voice was the same deep rough voice from before, "Miko. He spoke to me."

At last the final bed stirred and a candle was lit, illuminating the dark room. A second man climbed out of bed and his shadowy figure walked towards the door. Candles spontaneously ignited casting off the shadows and filling the room with light. They were lit without the aid of a match or person, but rather a force.

"Oni. Where are you going?" asked Miko. The woman rose from her bed at last and proceeded to follow behind Oni. Han was left in the light, but his face was hidden from his long hair, it was thick enough so that to him it was still dark. Han however followed his two comrades towards the door.

"Sephiroth. Mother. Why do we keep dreaming about the dead!" yelled Han.

A piercing youthful voice filled the cottage, "They live. Still."

"Oni…What's gotten into you?" asked Miko.

Just then Oni's eyes flashed at them in the darkness. A pin released in the darkness. The sound of fluid filling a container. A hiss. The smell of Nacin. The room started to fill with a cloud of deadly nerve gas.

"Nacin. Fools." exclaimed Oni as he began to listen carefully, scanning for the sound. He pointed his gun to the small wood stove in the cottage and fired two rounds at it. A spark ignited the gas and blew a massive twenty foot hole in the side of the house. Everything caught flame. The cottage began to shake and crumble

The Ex-SOLDIERs ran through the fire and out of the house just in time before it collapsed and the wood and hay house went up in a fireball. They split and moved as one single unit. The sound of footsteps disappeared into the pitch black night. The moon never rose tonight, but SOLDIER was an elite group of super-soldiers that didn't even need to see to track and kill their targets.

A man ran through the fields of Kalm, the tall grass bent silently to his skilled movements. His foot falls were almost soundless. He wore a complete black suit and a black face mask, it would be hard to track him for the Ex-SOLDIERs.

Miko pursued the closest behind him and something amazing began to happen. The grass caught flame and became an inferno that was burning everything in sight. Miko carefully used her powers to start other fires, soon trapping their silent prey in a large closing box of flame.

The three moved in closer and closer, the ability to run was sealed off and at last a sound other then flame pierced the darkness, a sound of metal weapon being unsheathed.

As if they were one the three Ex-SOLDIERs moved in for the kill, the faint lighting provided them with a visual confirmation on their prey. A tall man wearing a suit of black cloth. He jumped in the air, he jumped nearly fifty feet straight up and five objects shot towards the three Ex-SOLDIERs.

Miko lit up these objects and attempted to burn them in mid-flight, but as soon as she did they burst into pieces and hot liquefied metal rained on all three of the Ex-SOLDIERs in their delta position. The molten metal hit Miko first and her scream was so loud it could possibly be heard for miles around. Oni and Han skillfully jumped back and avoided the deadly rain, causing it to ignite the grass in front of them on fire. Miko fell to the ground, screaming and screaming in pain. The prison of fire she created burst with intensity and rushed inwards, threatening everyone.

As the flames came closer to Oni he grabbed Han by the waist and pointed his gun down. Proceeding to leap as high in the air as he could he fired three shots to control his angle to leap over the incoming wall of fire and shoot three oversized cannon shells from his gun right past Miko. Almost instantly the ground exploded and dirt began to rain from the skies as the rounds exploded. Materia-laded rounds with impressive earth spells caused the ground to rupture and rain rock and dirt. Covering Miko instantly as the flames closed in. The inferno met and burned everything it could then died out leaving nothing behind except two mounds of dirt.

Miko rose from the dirt and brushed herself off, but the second pile did not. She moved over to the body, being rejoined by Oni and Han. Her eyes flashed red and the ground exploded in flame, but it set off a bomb and the three Ex-SOLDIERs were sent flying in the air. Hundreds of feet away all three landed on their feet, but were surprised.

"Another hunter?" asked Han. His voice was deep as ever, but a flash of fear crept into it as he said 'another'.

The darkness swallowed everything again and the sound of something splitting the air softly rung in to the three as an attack. Oni used his heavy gun as a shield and swung it to counter the attack directed at him. A blade hit the gun sending a shower of sparks in the air and igniting the bullet chamber. The gun exploded in Oni's hands and his arms were blown off.

"ONI!" shouted his comrades as blood splattered their faces and the sword cut threw the air and slammed into Miko's right leg, lobbing it off cleanly. She fell to the ground screaming in agony.

"MIKO!" yelled Han as he heard a sword pierce the darkness again, aimed at Miko still. Rushing in he drew both his katanas and using his left hand blocked a slash from the darkness. Stopping just two inches from Miko's neck the two swords clanged loudly and sparks flew again, Han was shocked by a powerful electric current. His muscles spasmed and his katana cut the right shoulder of Miko clean off her body. The woman screamed and screamed, but her pain would not end it seemed. The cries of Oni and Miko filled the night as Han and the unknown man faced off against each other.

All of a sudden Han regained his composure and started lashing out at his near invisible enemy. The sound of each others sword's cutting through the air served as a way to be prepared to block or dodge the incoming slash. The sound of swords clanging filled the night as Han faced off against an equally skilled man.

Miko's bleeding was lethal and she began to get dizzy. Her life was draining out of her. Using her left hand she covered the wound and used powerful curative magic on herself. Her shoulder immediately began to heal over, but skin replaced and bound the bleeding. She repeated this for her stub of a leg. Any chance of saving them was now lost, not even the latest surgery breakthroughs would restore her body.

She crawled over towards Oni, dragging her body with her left hand and leg towards her comrade. Oni was also bleeding badly, blood was freely shooting from his wounds with each beat of his heart. Unlike Miko who cannot calm herself, Oni was able to reduce bleeding by going into a sort of trance. He was in shock physically, but Miko realized he would no longer be able to fight with his injuries. Quickly expelling her magic she placed her hand on his right arm and healed it over, the bleeding stopped and magically skin reformed, closing the wound. Her body was going into severe shock now, she was draining her magic from her body which made her not only strong, but kept her alive.

"Oni…Even if I die…you must live!" she cried out as she drained almost all her magic into healing his severed right arm. This time however the bleeding did not stop as quickly and the skin took much longer to heal, but as soon as the wound was closed Miko fell unconscious on the body of Oni.

Han continued to lash out and finally after what seemed an eternity managed to thrust both of his katanas out in a large double slash, sending his enemy's sword flying through the air. Although Han proceeded to follow through and kill his enemy something landed on the ground beside him and was forced to jump back before the grenade went off. The explosion was intense and probably lethal if he was within the blast range, but more importantly then his safety was that the unseen attacker disappeared into the night.

Han grabbed the sword of his enemy which lay in the grass and noticed it was a katana much like his. Infact, he was sure it was his. He quickly ran back to Miko and Oni who he left behind.

"MIKO!" He yelled and cried out, looking at her on top of Oni it seemed she had passed out from healing. Han felt her faint heartbeat with his hand on her neck and pushed her off of Oni without another thought. He put his feminine hand over the neck of Oni and felt a heartbeat and then started to laugh.

"Ha-ha ha-ha-ha HA-HA-HA! You can't kill us! We're SOLDIER." he laughed out into the darkness. His head thrown back in laughter he cried tears of joy.

Just then a sword was placed against his neck. The cold blade cut in immediately and drew blood from just touching it. A sinister voice asked, "How does it feel?"

Han froze and his joy was replaced with fear, his pupils shrank into nothing, his body froze up. He trembled and began to say, "W-W-Why…?"

The sword slowly started to cut into Han's neck, the bleeding increased. The voice replied as cold as ever, "Mother."

Han was so afraid his bowels were released, he soiled himself in both ways at the same time. His voice was shaken and rattling, all the life in his body turned to a ghostly white, "We seek her."

The figure pulled back his sword and replaced it flat against the side of Han's neck. The left side of his neck felt the cold steel cut in slowly again. The figure in the shadows mocked Han, "I will spare your lives if you will take my body."

Han's eyes widened. He surged with happiness and joy once more, he thought he would surely die, but it appeared as if God was merciful. Han begged, "What do I have to do?"

The figure took back his blade and appeared before Han, revealing his face. He was the striking resemblance to another member of SOLDIER.

"Consume my body. Drink my blood. For I am a sacrifice to Sephiroth. I am but a servant to Mother. This body will no longer suit me. Take it and the path to Mother shall open. Will you do this when I order it?"

Han nodded softly. The man smiled and replaced the black cloth mask over his face again. He spoke from behind the mask, "You are the chosen one, the one who will save this planet."

Han was stunned, but the care of his comrades was more important to him. He grabbed both Miko and Oni and carried them upon his shoulders back towards Kalm. 


	2. Fear

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth Chapter 2: Fear

Han awoke from his bed and left the cottage without so much as a word, Oni rolled over in his bed and continued to sleep. Miko snored softly in her bed as always. What Han saw had disturbed him greatly and he left without waking the other two. He left them to sleep soundlessly as he had before. His dream had been vivid and shocking, he was dumbfounded.

Sephiroth had spoken to him through his dreams, but as another entity itself. Sephiroth's will proclaimed to him that a sacrifice would be given to him, but it would come at a high price. Han pulled out a cigarette and smoked outside, he was nervous and started to pace around while the others slept.

Oni would also have a vision, but his was completely different from Han. Sephiroth was choosing his pieces and bending them to his will by force. Oni started to thrash in bed, consumed by a nightmare.

Five years ago the sector 7 plate fell to the slums below, Oni relived this fateful day in his mind over and over and over, but now it was different. Shinra had gathered troops in the area, a good portion of the army was inside when Barret Wallace detonated explosives, knocking out the support and causing the plate to fall.

The ground shook and Oni ran through the streets towards a house. Inside the bodies of his little brother Claus and ten others lay dead. Han and Miko were near death, but he managed to drag them out of the house and fled into the sewers. However this time he realized that something was different, something he might not have noticed before. Heavy bullet rounds in the door and a tattered piece of clothing that had to have belonged to Barret Wallace. Also when he ran for the sewers he remembered their screams, their cries and one man had shouted, "AVALANCHE is fighting Shinra on the pillar."

Oni opened his eyes and softly said, "Claus! You died for nothing." He woke up in a sweat and was scared a bit. Thinking about everything his memory kept coming back to AVALANCHE on the pillar in Sector 7. Even Shinra released a statement saying that AVALANCHE was responsible, but could it really have been true? Dispatched as a member of SOLDIER he was told to destroy AVALANCHE or else get out of Sector 7, but the deadline had been pushed up after the bombing of the first reactor. Shinra knew when Sector 7 would fall, but AVALANCHE was responsible after all!

Oni's head was spinning. As a member of SOLDIER he could not take this easily and decided to head outside. He walked over to the door and walked out to see Han smoking a cigarette. It looked like it was a least his fifth and he was still shaking.

"Han, AVALANCHE killed Claus."

Han just nodded and continued to pace around. His long hair still covering his face, the feminine male made no sound or gesture to comfort his brother. Oni clenched his fist and slammed it down on the wooden railing, smashing it to pieces. The wood exploded with a crack and it fell to the ground with a soft thud.

"We have a mission. Our final mission. Not as assassins, but as men. We'll take some jobs and earn enough to put it into motion and then we'll finish it ourselves." Oni stated.

Han nodded and put out his cigarette on the wooden post nearest to him. The other cigarette butts stood up from where he left them previously, but this one he put it out harder, crushing it into the wood, "We'll need the best SOLDIER to defeat Cloud and destroy AVALANCHE."

Oni nodded, "That traitor back stabbed Sephiroth and killed many of us. Only Sephiroth himself will defeat that traitor."

The two of them nodded and after a long pause looked at each other closely. Oni was embarrassed and turned away first, but Han reached out and held his brother tightly in his arms. Oni started to cry and then Han did to. Both brothers cried tears for what they had lost and what they were going to lose.

"The Oath of Men."

"Men must be strong."

"Even when it takes away our brothers and sisters."

"We're raised to be this way."

"Unable to show weakness."

"Unable to show emotion."

"Unless in the arms of a lover."

"That is the sacred unspoken oath of men."

As they spoke the oath they stopped crying and started to laugh softly, still holding each other. The laugher hid the tears and the pain, but it was still there. An uneasy, but calming emotion overtook them. They wore the mask as if it was their own face. Once more succumbing to the world of men.

"Brother?"

"Yes, Han?"

"…"

"…Right."

They were silent from that point on, although they did not say it they looked at each other and smiled. Han pulled back all of his hair and drew a dagger and rose it above his head. With the dagger in hand he cut his hair short in a single stroke. It cut it short in the front, but left the back relatively long. His bangs went down to his cheeks, but his distinct cut was one that was symbolizing the release of the third eye. Han foresaw what would become of them and cut the hair covering his eyes. He was no longer blind in appearance, but still had feminine hair.

Oni paced back and forth, sensing the tension in the air. The two brothers were too embarrassed to speak of their feelings towards one another, but it was mutual in nature. Oni needed Han and Han needed Oni.

The two looked up at the full moon and realized that even though the two of them were destined to live a life of eternal conflict like all SOLDIERs, they would in the end be able to find happiness in the simplicity of life. For the time they lived in the illusion that they would never be separated, but Han's dream seeded thoughts of separation, death and loss. The fear was sown and it would rest deep in his heart, however for the moment this was enough to calm his fears.

Miko still slept in her bed, but she would see the worst nightmare of the three. As she rolled over and over she was consumed in it, but unknowing of what was happening the two brothers decided to enjoy the quiet solace of each others company.

Oni and Han went out down the streets in the middle of the night. Lit by lanterns the path was dark, but it lead them away from their fear, and headed towards their own selfish desires.

As the two walked down the streets of Kalm, the two brothers spotted the Tavern and headed inside. A beautiful busty woman in a tight spotted miniskirt and a loose white T-shirt moved around the round tables, delivering drinks and occasionally food the few people. It was clear she was bra-less, but since she had a beautiful soft face most people tended to keep their eyes up to look into those beautiful eyes with little swirls in them. She was captivating and spunky.

"Here you go!" she said as she delivered two glasses of some booze to a bunch of burly men. Her smile was just as soft and warm as her face, she was the delight of the town and was a welcome new recruit for the town's hardened drinkers.

The past ten years have been tough on everyone. The world is becoming more and more dangerous, but little is being done about it, even the WRO has been too busy to deal with Kalm much since the incident several years ago. As the two brothers entered the tavern the people gave them a strange look and went back to their own conversations and drinking. Inside the tavern only ten people were there, including the black-suited bouncer who looked more like a Turk then anything else. The waitress was the second, with a big strong bar-tender as third. It seemed as if the rest of the people in the tavern were miners, they wore dirty soot-covered clothes and had blackened faces, most of them were partially cleaned off so they could drink. Their muscles were huge and these men were incredibly strong, even as normal humans.

The recent spike of travel to Kalm was because of a large coal deposit found under the city, with massive oil field being close to the swamplands. The city was by no means thriving, but it was the initial construction boom that turned Kalm into a small city. With Midgar in ruins the people have started to spread out and find other ways to work the land to make a living.

The waitress who at a second glance appeared to be from Wutai came up to the two brothers and asked them a question softly, "You two look serious, but please no trouble! Okay?"

Oni nodded, "Can we have two of the house special?"

The waitress perked up her ears and blinked, "Gysahl Greens are for chocobos."

"And for trench men."

She nodded and gave a look to the bouncer wearing the suit. He came over and stared at Oni and Han. His voice was deep and commanding, "Take this, it pays 50,000."

Oni grabbed the folder from the bouncer and put it in his pocket, "Target?"

"Cecil Majeen. Ex-SOLDIER. Traitor. Murdered five people during a bank heist in Marlo. He's held up in a cottage about five miles south of here."

Han nodded and Oni nodded, "An interesting one, thank you." They turned and left the tavern, walking over to a lantern on the street corner and pulling out the documents handed to him.

"Shit." Oni cursed out loud, "This guy is a 2nd Class SOLDIER!. He was part of Tviste to! His name is Aurum!"

Han nodded, "Even after the fall of Deepground and their near-complete destruction…they still live like us as cockroaches. Even Weiss has been seen…"

Oni sighed and hid the papers in his trench coat again, "In any case this guy will be difficult. Something doesn't feel right though."

The two walked down the streets and headed south, towards their target. As they left the town Oni pulled his machine gun off his back and started snapping the pieces together. The massive black gun was his shield and his weapon. With a quick snap he set the pre-loaded ammunition into place, effectively removing the safety features. The gun was a duel weapon, it had the ability to fire grenades from its bottom barrel and shoot high-velocity armor piercing rounds from the longer barrel right above the grenade launcher. However on the right side was heavy metal plating to be used as a shield, but also as a container for materia. The gun weighed fifty pounds, but Oni carried it as if it was no more then a standard weapon.

Han pulled out both of his two long katanas and held them at his sides. They were as sharp as razors and were notable for being able to cut through almost everything, even armor. Han's swordsmanship was impressive because of his great speed and skill, it allowed for him to swing his long katanas at speeds in excess of 120 mph. Even being hit by the flat side of the blade is enough to kill a man at that speed. Each katana was made of heavy alloy metals such as lead-steel alloys, but for an added effect the tips of the blades were poisoned with powerful toxins that Han would apply right before battle. Han didn't put poison on the tips of his blade for this encounter, he did not foresee a fight, they had no intention of getting close to the house.

As they entered the fields something strange happened, the sound of a large beast tore through the fields. The grass in some parts were flattened in a long, but short width. Oni came across its tracks first and saw that it was a good seven feet wide, but sensed something was amiss when no footprints could be found.

Something was not right at all, they had not heard a single sound since they left Kalm. The normally soothing sounds of crickets, birds and grasshoppers were gone, even the sound of bats flying around was absent.

"Oni…listen!"

A rush of sound not far off to the left, the grass was being bent and broken down. In his head Han saw a pattern, whatever was closing in was big and it was after them. Deciding not to wait and be preyed upon he shot his brother a glance. "Do it."

Han leapt high into the air about thirty feet and he heard a hiss and from behind him a great serpent bared its fangs and attacked him from behind. Han was skilled enough to spin around and stab his katanas into the scaly hide of the great serpent, right above the mouth. Using the hilts as his center of force he thrust himself onto its head, drawing a dagger from his black trench coat.

You will die, tainted one.

Han gasped as he heard the thoughts of the serpent and failed to stab it with his dagger, the serpent bent its head and thrust itself up into Han.

"NO!" yelled Oni as he opened up his machine gun on the serpent, firing his thirty round clip into the scaly hide of the serpent, only to realize it had little effect. The bullets barely broke through the hide and only small wounds formed from where the bullets had entered.

Han tried to cling onto the serpent as it bucked its head at him, but he could not dig into the smooth oversized scales and fell towards the ground, he was falling on his back, but he changed positions in mid-air at great speed. Just as he was about to land the great serpent swung its tail and connected to Han's back and slammed him forward and into the ground, face first.

The body of Han was sent rolling twenty feet back into the grass, he was bleeding badly and his face and arms were badly cut up. His back cracked and he managed to get on his feet in less then a second.

The serpent eyed the two men carefully, Han's katanas still embedded into its body. The being seemed supernatural, it was cunning and ingenius in the way it attacked and counterattacked. Could it really talk to?

Perish for your impurity!

"Perish for your impurity?! YOU FIRST" shouted Oni as he fired two high-explosive grenades at the serpent's head. They both exploded on contact and the creature fell over onto the ground. Han rushed in towards the serpent; able to see the katanas in its hide. He lunged for them, but the serpent opened its mouth and swallowed him whole.

"HAN!" screamed Oni as he flipped a switch on his gun. "Take this you fiend!"

The gun flashed white and a bolt of lightning shot out from inside it, headed straight at the serpent it connected with Han's katanas. Like a lightning rod, the serpent received the full power of the shock and its body exploded in a ball of fire. Han's body fell to the ground as pieces of the great serpent fell with him. Oni rushed over to Han and checked his pulse on his brother's neck. Oni started to cry when he felt his brother have no pulse.

"No! Don't die on me! Brother! Don't die on me! You can't die to!" he sobbed. He realized what he had to do and placed his lips over his brother's mouth, pinching his nose and breathing into him. One. Two. Breathe. Then he pushed down on his brother's chest quickly for fifteen times. No good, he started it over again. Still it did no good. Oni began to cry more and more, tears freely trickled down his face and he cried out, "Han! I love you! Don't leave me!" He tried again, but still his brother had no pulse. At last he kissed his brother on the lips, his and Han's first kiss. The body of Han grew colder and life started to leave him.

"HAN! You bastard! DON'T GO!"

Oni slammed his fist down hard on Han's chest and his body jerked from the force.

"DON'T GO!"

Oni continued to pound on his brothers chest in anger and sadness, but at last Han coughed and blood spurt from his mouth. A gasp and he breathed in on his own. Oni grabbed Han and hugged him tightly.

"OH HAN! I almost killed you!" cried Oni. He was sobbing like a child, unable to stop the flow of tears even in joy. Han gently patted his brother's back and coughed up more blood, "Brother, you hit me too hard."

Oni pulled back and looked at Han softly, "If I didn't hit you so hard you'd be --"

"Be using my own materia to burst out on my own?" interrupted Han.

Oni shook his head, "You'd be dead if you were any farther in, that thing ate a bunch of explosives somehow. It preys on people."

Han nodded and closed his eyes, reciting from memory, "The great serpent that lives in the swamp that feasts on anything that travels through it, but it can leave the swamp to pursue prey also. If it acquires the taste for human flesh it will never return to the swamp and will prey upon people outside of a town or village until it is killed."

Oni stood up and fetched Han's katana's from the body of the beast, "We'll bring its head back as proof we killed it. Should fetch a good price."

Han started to laugh, "You aren't yourself, what did you do when I was unconscious? You hugged me to…" Oni never replied and continued to hide his emotion by picking up and dragging its head back towards Kalm. Han followed his brother back, but was silent. His mind was troubled once more.

As they walked back they spoke nothing until almost at the city limits. Han finally asked Oni, "Did it speak?" Oni started to laugh and continued walking as he carried the serpents head down the road, "Not a chance."

Oni was deliberately hiding something, but it seemed as if Oni really didn't know about it speaking. Oni would never lie to him, but his brother had didn't seem like his usual self, he was compassionate. Han began to worry if Oni had a dream that tore at his heart. Oni was cold and calculating, but whenever Claus comes to his mind he changes completely, but he wondered if something else was bothering his brother.

This awkwardness was alienating, it seemed as if they were not brothers, but were strangers. Something was threatening to tear them apart, but it wasn't easy to understand what that threat was. The moment Oni showed up on the tavern door everything went back to normal though.

The miners inside actually came out when they saw the head of the serpent and gasped. There were murmurs and whispers, but then one miner shouted, "This is the serpent that ate the supplies to use in the mine! Ate the cart and everything!" Everyone moved in to examine it. The miners scrutinized it and looked at it, some even went as hard as touching it.

Oni asked, "Which one of you wants to buy this beasts head?"

The miners began discussing and fighting between themselves, but at last a big burly man in a checkered shirt held out a large some of money, "150,000. This thing has been ruining my life and even though we haven't posted a reward its only fair to give you what the reward was going to be, but is it the same one?"

Oni nodded, "When I hit this with lightning it exploded violently, if it ate a cart of explosives recently, this is no doubt the head of that beast."

The miners gasped and the man hurriedly paid Oni. He even handed over a makeshift reward sign to him as a bonus, "You saved us a lot of trouble, Johnny was afraid he'd never find a hunter in the tavern to do such a risky job, but you have gone and done it for me!"

Han blinked and wondered about the creditably of the miner; surely no one would willingly carry such a large amount of money around. Things haven't been making sense recently. It gets stranger and stranger each passing day to.

"You boys are SOLDIER to, huh? Come in! Have a round of beers on me, Montalo." said the miner as he beckoned them in.

The group all went inside, carrying the prize of their hunt with them. The tavern became joyous once more in the dead of the night. Though each passing moment Han became more and more skeptical of Oni. 


	3. Captive

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth Chapter 3: Captive

Flames danced wildly around the room. Fire consumed everything. The drapes on the windows burst into flame. The roof exploded and cracked stirring Miko from her sleep. The yellow fire roared and wood began to crack as the roof started to cave in. Her eyes wide with terror as she saw the support beam give way and slam down into the floor just feet from her. The beds next to her were empty, the room was filling with smoke, the heat was intense. Flames lapped at her heels as she ran towards the door.

Just as she went to get out of the burning house a black hooded object blocked her way, in the man's hand was a large slender sword. The man pointed the sword at her and she gasped.

"What's going on!? Who are you!? Why are you doing this?" she screamed.

The man spoke as if he was already dead, "A child cries, a woman dies, mother and child embrace in death." He stepped forward as more of the roof fell onto the wooden floor of the cottage, the flames burned hotter and hotter, the orange flames consumed everything it touched. The wooden frame was about to give way to the fiery inferno.

"BURN!" Miko screamed, afraid for her own life. With a flash of her eyes flames exploded and consumed the man blocking her only exit. His suit was burned instantly, but his naked body remained untouched by the flames. Even while encased in fire he was unable to be burned. The sword in his hand shot out from his hand and impaled her to the hilt in her stomach.

Miko threw up some blood and grabbed the handle with her hand, pulling the sword from her own body she cried out in agony. The flames danced ever closer, even she would be consumed in the inferno at this rate. Upon pulling the bloodied sword from her body she lashed out at the man, stabbing at his heart, "DIE!"

The man raised his hand and grabbed the sword point in between his index and middle finger, it didn't even seem to cut in as he pulled it back with a solid jerk, ripping it from Miko's grip.

Miko in a panic ran from the man encased in fire, she lunged over a burning timber and dove under the kitchen table only to leap out a second later and burst through a window. She landed on the ground and gasped, "I'm alive."

She took off running into the streets screaming, "Oni! Han! Where are you!?" Though as she ran down the streets of Kalm she realized their was no lights on in any of the houses in Kalm, no street lights, not even one house was lit up. The city was cold and barren. Miko ran out towards the forest on the edge of Kalm.

Tired and out of breath she reached the tree line and fell to her knees. Coughing and wheezing she could barely breathe, she spit up stringed saliva and mucus. It was several minutes of gasping and coughing before she regained her breathe and ease, but she turned back to look at the cottage just in time to see the roof fall in and the house go up at a hurried pace, the flames feeding on everything inside.

Miko checked her trench coat and found her pistol and grabbed it and walked into the woods. As soon as she enterred the woods she gasped in horror as she realized something was in the woods with her, something big. It stalked her from beyond a tree about fifty feet way, bushes rustled, footsteps in the darkness.

She looked up to a tree and screamed in terror as two bodies hung from the tree, still dripping blood into a pool on the ground. Even though it was dark she could tell it was Oni and Han. She dropped to her knees and screamed, firing her pistol twice into the air. A piercing scream echoed throughout the forest. The two tortured comrades looked to have been attacked by animals, as flesh was torn from their bodies and the nature of the hanging was one not to kill. Rope supported them, but their arms were bound together. They were left to be easy prey on purpose.

Growls came from the bushes, the sound of wolves. They emerged and they circled Miko, she was trapped on all sides by six separate wolves. She pointed the gun at one and fired, but it jumped into the air. It lunged at her and tore her arm, taking off the sleeve of her trench coat with its powerful teeth. Then another lunged and bit into her other arm, tearing off another sleeve as it ripped into its victim. They moved closer and Miko quivered in fear, dropping her gun to the ground.

The wolf in front of her lunged for the neck, a killing attack. Miko saw it and the wolf burst into flames in front of her. It was like an explosion and the body of the wolf slammed into her, knocking her onto her back. The other wolves joined in and they started to rip and tear her exposed flesh and completely removed her trench coat.

Another explosion took care of a second wolf, but they were too quick and she could not react fast enough as they tore into her naked flesh. She screamed and screamed as the wolves feasted on her still living body.

Then the sound of a sword silenced the wolves all at once. A soft cry echoed the forest as they were slain and fell to the ground. A man approached her and stood over Miko, it was a cold face, but he had saved her.

"The child cried, so the mother died." says the man.

Miko got onto her knees and started to crawl away in fear, she led a bloodied trail as she crawled on her hands and feet towards a tree. Her tears would not stop falling, she was being tormented by this savior and devil.

"I will free you from your prison." he said as the sword plunged through her calf and pierced her shin, pinning her leg to the ground. She cried in pain and her body was giving out. She felt his hand on her back, moving down lower and lower. Then a burst of pleasure as he touched her were no man had before, but it was not a hand, it was a gun.

"Your womanhood is dangerous, but if you promise to seal it I will let you live."

She cried and grabbed for the sword pinning her to the ground, but his quick arm grabbed hers and with a jerk her arm broke and fell limp. She cried out silently, the pain over took her and she fell to the ground. Begging for her life as she passed out.

She regained consciousness and realized she was in her bed, "Huh? How!?" She felt her right calf and check her arm and body. She was overjoyed and happy.

"THANK GOD! It was a dream!" she yelled. It was morning and the sun's glare slightly blinded her, but she looked over to the two beds next to her.

"Oni? Han?" she asked.

She saw they were missing and felt uneasy, they had never been missing before. They always were together and were never apart. Suddenly the door opened and a figured entered the house, Miko ran over and shouted, "Oni, Han! Where have you two been?"

She turned the corner and saw the shadowy figure of a man, dressed in black. She fell to her feet and eyes widened, "NO!" As her eyes widened the materia absorbed into her body reacted and in the unfocused state she caused flames to spontaneously burst from the drapes and walls. The man approached her and drew a sword, "A child cries, Miko dies." Miko immediately turned to run towards the window in which she jumped out of in her dream, but the man cut her off and cut into her right arm with his sharp sword. The shining blade glimmered in the sunlight as it swung, the blood ruptured from the wound and coated her arm a dark crimson.

"My déjà vu…was right…" Miko gasped as tears ran down her face.

The man in black grinned and nodded, "Woman! You must suffer for your sin!" The blade came down and sliced her left arm, which bled profusely like the other.

"You shall bleed tears of crimson!"

The sword stabbed and pierced her neck and twisted ever so slightly. Nevertheless the blood shot from the wound, covering her trench coat with her blood.

Miko started screaming, but nothing came out. She was unable to speak or vocalize a single word, all the came up was a gurgling sound that came from the blood spilling into her throat that she was choking on.

"I won't kill you yet, it'd be a waste of all the trouble I did to find you." said the man. He sheathed the bloodied sword back on his back and his cape covered its existence. The man pulled a black satin wrap from his hand and covered it over her neck wound, making it tight. Miko waited until she felt the bleeding stop before becoming violent again. As soon as he tied the wrap to her neck her eyes clenched and widened as flames burst onto the man, encasing him in fire. Though it was short lived as the man kicked her head and sent her flying against the wall, leaving her unconscious. As soon as the flames started they died away, with the user being unconscious the magic ceased and the man was virtually unscathed.

Miko regained conscious to find herself tied to a chair with rope. She was in a different place, it was dank and had a strange chemical odor. Her eyes were literally pinned closed by what felt like needles. Her arms were bound to the chair, her legs which were spread were bound to each leg of the chair.

A cold piece of metal touched her thigh, it was slender and sharp. As it moved it cut the flesh and warmth flowed down her leg. Then he did it again to the other leg, making symmetrical cuts.

"Will you give up your womanhood for me?" the familiar voice asked.

Miko was silent as she thought, but it was only a few seconds when she mouthed out, "I will, if you tell me who you are! My body will be yours! Just let me live!"

The man laughed and the sword plunged into her womanhood, severing her womb and pushing through the other side. Her body thrashed and thrashed, she strained and her mouth stayed open for a long time, in a silent scream. Again and again the sword pierced her body, each thrust brought on more and more pain. She screamed and screamed, but not a single word was ever said.

The blood trickled down her legs and she wished that more then cotton and leather protected her. The trench coat was probably stained red with her blood now, her slops must have also been soaked in her blood. Though the most humiliating thing to her was about to be done. It was worse then being raped to her. Her tormentor grabbed her black face mask and pulled it down, revealing her nose and mouth. Her face was hideously scarred. Her lips were cut and mutilated. She was missing all of her teeth, her checks had burns and holes in them. Miko was the subject of brutal torture during the Midgar-Wutai war. She remembered being raped, burned, mutilated and starved by the people of Wutai. Her hatred for the Wutai people made her determined to be in SOLDIER. She joined SOLDIER 7 years ago and was now 21 years old, but was still considered a 2nd Class SOLDIER.

"That's a good girl." said the voice. A hand grabbed her chin and forced open her mouth. She was forced to drink a disgusting tasting fluid, it tasted like acid and burned as she swallowed it. She started to throw up, her body convulsed and spasmed and she passed out again.

She awoke again in a cell, confined naked to a white chair. Arm and leg restraints held her down. A doctor walked into the room and smiled, he had a shifty grin on his face and gray hair, he was the splitting image of Professor Hojo. He approached her and gently patted her head, "Welcome my dear, you will be an elite member of SOLDIER. No worries you will never have to remember this, we'll drug you before the procedure and you'll wake up feeling fine. The restraints are for body spasms, which can happen. If anything is wrong, just say so."

Professor Hojo smiled and Miko mouthed two words at him. Her face clenched up and she was bitter and angry. It was not hard to tell what those two words were, but Hojo smiled and patted her on the head again, "No need to say "Thank you." like that, dear. You'll make an old fool like me blush. I hear you remember my son saving you. You'd make a perfect wife for him."

Hojo grabbed a needle filled with a clear fluid, "Okay, this might hurt a bit, but I promise you that it will be alright." He put the needle into her hip and she started to get drowsy and close her eyes. Hojo spoke as she slipped into unconsciousness, "You'd be perfect for him."

She awoke again to see a black-caped man in armor standing next to her. The man was considerably older then she was and had long silver hair. It had to be Sephiroth. Miko sat up and Sephiroth bent down and kissed her on the forehead. He smiled and whispered into her ear, "When you are an adult come to me and I will marry you, I promise."

Miko's eyes widen, it was what Sephiroth had said when she was held by the people of Wutai. Sephiroth made a promise to save her and marry her if she ever got into trouble, but Sephiroth was dead now. Miko remembered it and started to cry.

"Come to the Northern Crater. You will meet me there. Then we can be together."

Miko blushed and nodded, "I will. Just lead me there, my love." Sephiroth smiled and his body began to fade. Miko reached out for him, but it was too late.

"I will." 


	4. Hunter

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth Chapter 4: Hunter

Montalo started to dance a little jig on the floor and all the miners began to bob their heads and clap their heads.They began to pound on the tables and one even took out a harmonica to play along.

"My brothers! We sing to victory! We sing to heroes! We sing for life!" shouted Montalo. "Let us sing our favorite song!"

All the miners threw their hands in the air, raising frothy mugs of beer or their bottles and gave a loud deep cheer. Then all at once they began to clap or pound their fists on the wooden tables like it was a drum. Montalo got up on a large oak table and began to dance wildly, his form turned into an almost comedic pose as his large body moved to the quick beat which lead into the song. At first only Montalo sung, but all the miners started to join in, forcing Oni and Han to follow and sing with them.

The sound of strong drunken men was surprisingly well practiced, and they raised their mugs in the air to the beat and pounded their hands at quick quarter tempo. The harmonica went wild and played quick as lightning in the same drunken manner of the men, beckoning them on. They jumped, danced, drummed and sung like proud men as they sung in chorus:

Over the hills and far away We work night and day Men of men we are!  
To beer ho Falara!  
Falara rala hurrah ya!

In town or field We work night and day Strong of strong we are!  
To beer ho Falara!  
Falara rala hurrah ya!

Oh! Sweet reward!  
We work night and day Boozers of boozers we are!  
To beer ho Falara!  
Falara rala hurrah ya!  
Men of men To beer ho Falara!  
Falara rala hurrah ya!  
Strong of strong To beer ho Falara!  
Falara rala hurrah ya!

Brother sing it again!  
Of the work in night Of the work in day Men of men we are!  
To beer ho Falara!  
Falara rala hurrah ya!  
Wede hurrah ya lota!

In the night, in the day Falara rala hurrah ya!  
Strong of strong we are!  
Falara rala. Falara rala! Falara rala! Holla yah!  
Holla ya! Hurrah ya!

The drunken singing was complete with some cheering and clanging of mugs as the drums ended with one loud slam from the 8 drummers and one loud burst from the harmonica. Montalo jumped down from the table and laughed after.

"You are recognized as men among men!" Montalo shouted as he slammed his heavy hand onto the back of Oni, nearly knocking him over. "You are welcome to the Clan Arush! We are men of men and you are to! Let's celebrate with another round of beers!"

All the miners broke into cheer and Montalo signaled the waitress to bring out a keg, his arms thrust wildly in the air over his head, "Sanni! Bring it! Tonight we celebrate our brothers!"

Han gasped and stared, "They are nuts!"

Oni smiled and gave Han a strange look, "He said to enjoy ourselves, we are the saviors after all." Han looked at Oni and stared with disbelief. Oni got a mug of booze and drank it down.

"Hey, Han. You're the wild one, so quit acting like me and drink away your troubles."

Han smirked and jumped up onto the table, his voice was soft and sounded sweet like a woman's, but he drank his mug in a single gulp and called out to Montalo, "Come on! Let's sing it again!"

The sound of the drunken chorus of men filled the tavern as everyone joined in, even Sanni started to clap her hands along. The barkeep smirked and watched from behind the bar, but one noticeable absence was the bouncer who had disappeared. Oni realized it and became troubled, that bouncer was not a bouncer and these miners were actually mercenary hunters. They were a nomadic clan who were definitely powerful and can beat almost anything thrown against them.

As Han danced and his long hair bounced around and his tall form weaved around on the table, dancing to the beat and occasionally slamming into the muscular body of Montalo. The two were already friends, the way they looked at each other as they sung and danced in unison showed that Montalo had whole heartedly welcomed Han into their clan.

When the song was finished everyone drank from their mugs until it was empty and each one let out a gasp for air and cheered. Montalo slapped Han on the back, "Welcome to the clan, Han Akasugi."

Oni's eyes widened and he froze in his seat, his eyes fixed on Montalo with suspicion. This drunken burly man knew who Han was, but he nor Han had ever introduced themselves.

"Oh? Oni Akasugi! Come here and celebrate with us!" called out Montalo.

Oni's eyes narrowed and shot Montalo the evil eye before he rose and walked out of the tavern. The door closed behind Oni and silence ruled the tavern. Montalo scratched his cheek and blinked, "Well. What a kill joy!"

Han seemed obvious to what had made Oni mad, but he was too buzzed to care. "Hey, Montalo? Another round for another song!"

Oni walked down the street and noticed something in the shadows. Something lept into the air and disappeared behind a corner. Oni chased after the suspicious man, but as soon as he rounded the corner a man clothed in black lashed out at him suddenly with a sword. Oni went low and dodged, delivering a powerful hit to the man's stomach. The suspicious man flew back and coughed, but quickly regained composer and spoke, "The siren spoke to me…sang my name…her longing…the child will be born…to an angel without care for love or loss."

Oni blinked, confused by what the man spoke and the figure stood perfectly still. He smiled from behind his black face mask like Miko's and pulled it down revealing the face of a member of SOLDIER Oni once knew.

Oni's eyes widened as the man struck out, thrusting the sword at him, "I have lost the path before me! The one behind will lead me!"

The figure back flipped and bounced around Oni. This unnatural movement was superhuman and yet familiar, sword thrusts from the darkness in all directions. Oni was unprepared and almost defenseless. The sword cut through his trench coat and into his chest, but blood was barely drawn.

Oni leapt back and the figure pursued in perfect sync with his own movement, predicting, countering and swinging. The shadowy man stabbed Oni in the chest with three quick jabs before he landed on the ground again. Blood started to trickle down. Oni raised his hands to defend himself, but the figure slipped into the seemingly infinite darkness of the night and five quick jabs cut into his back from behind. He turned to face the red eyes of a demon, its figure contorted and shrouded in its own pure darkness that seemed to completely hide its figure in the shadow.

Oni ran, but the feeling of pins sticking into his body accompanied each step, the pain grew and grew. Adrenaline surged in his body, this demonic monster disguised toyed with him, pushing him and terrorizing him. Then the image of Sephiroth entered into his mind, the proud general of the Midgar-Wutai war. Oni let his mind go and remembered how to fight like Sephiroth. He became Sephiroth.

His eyes widened, pupils growing unnaturally large, drawing in the light. Oni pulled out a small pistol from his trench coat, his last resort weapon. Turning to face the fiend before him he saw the insect-like hell demon with six swords and three mouths. It had four sickly red eyes that blinked in sets of two. The horror bobbed and weaved, thrusting rapier sword points at Oni, but this time he was ready. Using his gun he pointed at the demon's hand and fired into one of the six hands, the sickly black claw holding the sword exploded and green blood spilled forth, the bullet proceeded and entered the body and exploded, blasting a six inch cavity into the demon.

The monster let out a human-like scream, but it was sick and gruesome, the hair on Oni's neck prickled and his ears sung as the cry echoed in Kalm. The beast recoiled and jumped into the air, realizing it was seen now. The demon stabbed the swords down on Oni, making him duck for cover, but the rapiers still prickled his back, this time the wound was deep and pierced his lung.

Oni gasped for air and hobbled against the wall of the building, he was hurt bad, but he took aim and fired at the demon's eye and the bullet entered the soft eye and exploded into the back of its head, blasting apart its face. The hollow-point explosive rounds were disgusting to use, but very effective at killing just about anything at these ranges. The demon's sickly green blood splattered his trench coat and began to burn through. Oni quickly grabbed his trench coat by his right hand and ripped it off, exposing his powerful chest and proceeded to throw the trench coat onto the demon's head in one swift movement.

With the god-like speed of all SOLDIER he quickly jumped back into the air and fired three shots into the trench coat covering the demon's head. The first round exploded into the chest and blew off one of its arms. The second and third hit the two legs and blew considerable holes into them. The demon let out a scream of pain. It fell to the ground, dropping two of its four swords and using his hands below his abdomen as feet, lunged at Oni during his descent. Already predicting where he would land, it thrust out two awaiting swords, ready to impale Oni in the air.

Oni smirked and fired the sixth round in the chamber and it hit the pocket of his trench coat and set of the grenades inside his coat. The demon exploded as its limbs, back and head were blown off in the resulting explosion. The explosion blew Oni back another thirty feet, but still he landed on his feet easily and pocketed the emptied pistol into his belt. His leather hide pants were outfitted with a dagger, two ammo belts and a small collection of throwing knives. Although he was heavily armed he did not use the dagger or knives at any point, they were in memory of his comrades who died before him and they were embedded into his pants as a reminder of what it means to be a SOLDIER. Should he die he dies with his brothers, even if alone.

Oni grabbed the rapier from the demon's claw and held it in his hands, this was an ancient blade. Though no markings were present on the blade it was no doubt designed for stabbing and not slashing. As he examined the blade it suddenly burst into pieces and the demon's body and weapon started to compress and it became a piece of materia.

Oni picked up the sickly green materia and held it in his hands. He began to examine it, but sure enough this was real. The materia glowed brightly in his hands, it was as big as his fist and cold to the touch. Just then the thought of Sephiroth entered his mind, but it was not strong.

"He's alive…this is his proof. It must be his materia."

Oni smirked and wondered why Sephiroth never spoke to him, but only to his brother Han. Han was considerably weaker then him, but why would it be that the weakest of the three have the ability to hear the will of Sephiroth? Oni smirked and laughed as he headed towards the cottage, "AVALANCHE tried to destroy the world and Sephiroth was blamed by them for it. No matter what Rufus says can change the fact that AVALANCHE nearly destroyed everything 11 years ago. He'll come back and take his rightful place as head of Shinra now."

Oni believed that Sephiroth would return and lead a divine punishment against those who opposed him and destroy the true destroyers of Midgar, AVALANCHE. As he climbed up the steps to the cottage, Han came running up at a quick pace. Han looked as if he ran the entire way.

"Oni! Tomorrow! Montalo is going to attack Aurum. He wants us to come and take him out." panted out Han between breaths.

Oni headed inside with a nod and a, "Okay. At dawn." Han ran down the road back towards the tavern to tell Montalo. The cloudless night began to change. The clouds rolled in from the east, over the mountains they came. A powerful storm was brewing once more. 


	5. Sniper

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth Chapter 5: Sniper

Oni paced back and forth inside the cottage, he stood bare chested in front of the mirror and stared at himself. Miko awoke and sat up in bed, clutching herself. She gasped and coughed, wiping her sweaty face on the soft white blankets.

"Oni! Sephiroth--"

Oni turned to her and shot her a cold look, "I know." Oni's cold and bitter personality was back to its bleak and cold familiarity for sure, but Miko hit a string. Oni was furious with anger and the mention of Sephiroth turned him into a loose cannon.

"We have a mission. To kill a man named Aurum. Ex-Soldier. Ex-Tviste. No information about him. He robbed a bank some time ago and is held up five miles south of here."

Miko nodded and got up. She headed down towards the bathroom and closed the door. The sink came on, the sound of water rushed down the drain. The shower turned on, more rushing water. The toilet flushed, more rushing water. From within the bathroom a ear-splitting scream was muffled by the sounds of pure rushing water. Oni turned his head away and closed his eyes as he heard the scream.

The water continued to run and the screams continued. Coughing, choking, screaming. Oni was at the breaking point and left the house as Miko screamed her head off from inside the bathroom. Even the thick walls of the house could not drown out her screams of pain. They grew louder and louder. Even when it seemed like it could not get any louder another piercing and even louder scream tore at your very soul. She was in great self-inflicted pain and each passing day it got worse, her body got weaker and weaker. She soon would become another being entirely if this progressed.

Oni stood facing the east and saw the twilight end and the dawn begin. It would be only thirty minutes before Han would come for them at first dawn to hunt down their target. Oni began to prepare himself mentally, remembering his training and what kind of mysterious person would be held up unopposed by local forces so close to the city.

For twenty more minutes Miko's screams penetrated Oni's thoughts and soul, tearing away at him piece by piece. Such suffering was unnecessary, but was a daily part of her life. As much as she tried to cover it up, it only served to increase the amount of stress he dealt with. At long last the screams died away and Oni came back into the house. The bathroom door was open and Miko was kneeling on the floor. The bathroom was coated in blood. The walls were smeared with her hand prints, her footprints on the glass and even up the walls. The shower glass was covered in dark crimson blood on one side, but the other was completely clean from the rushing water.

The floor was covered in hand prints, foot prints and splatter of blood. Miko's combat ritual was brutal and turned her into a monster, but this was excessive even for her. Normally she would cry and scream as she fought to awaken her body, but her body called for no more and had begun to fight her back. Although she wouldn't admit it she had to face the grim fate of reality, she was dying because of her own power.

"Oni…I'm ready." she panted. Picking herself up off the ground and smiling. Her grin was fake, she was in an extreme amount of pain.

"Miko…what did you do!?" Oni finally blurted out. He hugged her tightly and then pushed her away, shocked with himself.

Miko stood silent for several seconds, she stepped back against the wall and held her arms to her stomach, "Sephiroth will make me his wife and to be his wife I must be strong. So…I put more materia into my body."

Oni gasped and stared at her, she buried materia in her body to be absorbed. She cut into her chest and forcefully inserted compressed materia into her. Her body was a living weapon, once an experiment for Hojo, eleven years have passed from her savior rescued her from torture. Her body was just ten years old when she was brought to Hojo for experimentation. Her arm, legs, chest and shoulders were outfitted with special materia slots right to the bone. Whenever she wanted to use materia she simply had to think about it, but after she failed to control fire with materia Hojo abandoned the internal materia control system. A deadly weapon that allowed for hidden power in people even when unarmed. Now the time had come to prove herself, she crammed materia into her body.

However, as materia became more and more used it would grow larger and more powerful and inside her body it would need to be carefully removed and drained of its power and be replaced inside of her body again. Today was different, she cut open her arms, legs and chest and inserted marble-sized materia into ten new slots. Effectively increasing her magical power five times, but forcing her to suffer greatly for it. Her body got weaker and less stable, but it was a small sacrifice.

"Fire, Restore, Thunder, Water, Earth, Wind, Barrier, Ice, Shiva, Life."

Miko looked up to Oni and smiled, "I'll be able to save you if you are about to die." Oni shook his head slightly and put his finger over her mouth.

"Life only works if the spirit has not left it yet; unconscious yes, but if you are dead chances are you are staying dead." Oni corrected her. "Once the spirit returns to the planet all you will bring back is a shell devoid of emotion or feeling, incapable of anything."

Miko looked down and got to her feet and said, "Get your other coat, your chest is impressive, but I doubt you want to show that off to everyone."

Oni went to the living room and grabbed another trench coat from the rack and put it on over his exposed chest. The trench coat was slightly heavier then his last one, but it had extra mesh inside to offer better protection in combat. He loaded it up with five grenades and put his machine gun onto his back, fully loaded and ready for use.

No sooner had he done that had Miko reentered and smiled at him. His sister always loved a fight, but Oni couldn't help, but notice she never once refused to do any mission he ordered her to do. That smile of hers always was a sign she expected a good hunt.

Han rushed up the steps and yelled, "Oni! Miko! Let's go!" He ran up the steps, holding both katanas in hand and looking overly eager to start work.

Montalo and the rest of Clan Arush stood around with heavy artillery and several old military machine guns. These men carried fifty pound weapons as if it was a child's toy. They were gathered around each other, wearing green vests and camouflage pants. Their strong arms and tough-looking faces had black on them. They looked like a guerilla force.

Miko gasped when she saw the Clan Arush, "Who are you!?" Montalo bowed to Miko and raised his arm outstretched towards the nine other members of the clan.

"Ma'am we are Clan Arush. Men among men. I am Montalo, the leader of the Clan." he said pointing to himself. "Next is Lance."

A strong and tough looking gunman raised his arm up and tightened his biceps in a showy pose. Although he looked almost no different from the other men in build, his short blonde hair stood out as much as Han's did.

"Next to him is Carl."

Another big man raised his hand up and waved to Miko. He could have passed as a twin brother of Lance if it wasn't for his jet black hair. He held a heavy 50 caliber rifle in his left arm and several stacks of ammunition belts over his left shoulder that went down to his thick thigh.

"That man over there is Janus."

Janus was skinnier then the other men by a small amount, he looked a lot younger, but he had a bold mustache that helped make him appear older. The man had to be in his late twenties, but still managed to carry a rocket launcher on his back with surprising ease.

Montalo pointed to another man behind Janus who carried a backpack loaded down with supplies on it, "This guy is Lars, our logistics and information mastermind."

Lars nodded and brushed his thick red hair beard back. His curly red hair covered his entire face, but in a strange sense it suited him very well. Stood about five inches taller then even Montao at a proud 6 ft 8 inches. He was even taller then Han. This giant of a man made Miko feel incredibly short. He was almost two feet taller then she was.

"Our back up is Zarus, another of our logistics. He's responsible for the heavy artillery."

Zarus have a loud cough and Montalo gasped, "Oh! He's also our demolition expert. Whenever you need something blown up, Zarus here can do it."

Zarus had a deep voice which boomed like a God when he spoke, "Thank you, Montalo. Pleasure to meet you ma'am."

"Our 7th member is Adam. Our expert marksman and sniper."

Adam straightened his vest and raised his high powered sniper rifle into the air. It was a Midgar model weapon. It had a telescopic lens and a long four foot barrel, the pinnacle of Shinra long-range shooting.

"Our last three members, Bevos, Jinn and Nav are expert close range shooters each preferring the Shinra standard shot pistol."

In the far back the three guy raised their hands. Unlike the rest of the Clan Arush they had four pistols in plain view on their side and possibly more hidden under their green vests. They each carried side packs full of magazines and an exposed phone on their chests as a direct form of communication with the other members at all times. The others must have had them in their pockets for reference. Bevos, Jinn and Nav relied heavily on each other and appeared to be similar. Each strong and fit, but scars on the face of each three tell the pain they each have suffered. The three had similar strong bold faces, but while Bevos and Nav had no hair, Jinn had a full head of hair that was simply cut short so it would not get in the way of combat.

Montalo pointed to Miko and asked, "What's your name missy?"

Miko blushed and called out, "Its Miko." The entire Clan Arush group bowed and yelled, "Nice to meet you Miko!" Montalo grinned widely.

"Alright, let's go south of here, our target has been held up in the house for three days, if we wait any longer we'll miss our chance."

The thirteen hunters moved south through the fields, and over the rough terrain. It took an hour to see the house in which the man was held up. Deep in the woods a wooden cottage stood out against nature. At about three thousand feet from the house Adam separated from the group to find a vantage point.

Lars took the lead and moved ahead of the group, everyone crouched down behind some underbrush as Lars worked closer. He moved stealthy between the trees and the rocks, getting closer and closer. At a range of five hundred feet he signaled everyone to move up. As they got closer and closer Lars began to suspect something was strange.

Using a series of hand gestures Lars pointed out that the range was close enough for a shot or a look inside. The big man took out binoculars and looked through the windows.

Inside there was no movement at all. No activity. It became a battle of patience. Lars continued to look through and slowly put his hand into his pocket and pulled out the phone. He opened it with one hand, still watching the house windows through the binoculars. He spoke softly into it, no more then a whisper, "Adam. Lars reporting in. Do you see activity in the house?"

Silence followed for several minutes, everyone was on edge. Oni peeked his head over the rock, but Montalo dragged him back under the underbush and rock. Each time someone popped their head out from a rock or bush was a perfect chance to get shot.

"Don't be an idiot, Aurum is an expert marksman. If we get close you'll get your chance, but not a moment sooner." whispered Montalo as he scolded Oni.

At last the call came back to Lars, "Adam reporting. Need scope to check position, unsure of movement."

From far upon the hill Adam crept closer between two tight rock wall faces and pointed the barrel of his gun towards the window, checking the lower most window. Something was there, but he could not tell what it was.

"Lars. Something is moving, but I don't have a clear visual."

Everyone waited, Montalo scratched his head and looked at Zarus, "Figure the scope will do it?" Zarus looked back at Montalo and shook his head, "The telescopic lens will reflect the sunlight, we won't get a look unless Adam's using the twenty-two scope."

Lars nodded and spoke to Adam, "Adam. Use the twenty-two, if you can't get a lock, use the telescopic lens."

"Got you Lars. Something is strange about this house. I don't think he's left it." Adam voiced back.

Carefully Adam put on the twenty-two scope and checked the house, it was no good, the magnification was only a factor of eight. The object in the window was too hard to see still. Adam carefully pulled out the telescopic lens and fitted it onto his gun and moved the barrel out a little more. The window came into full view, and it appeared like a man was sitting behind the drapes, a gun was pointed outwards. Adam put the message through, "Lars. He's in the bottom right window, right side. He's targeting something. Take the shot?"

Lars looked back to Montalo and Zarus, "Possible target. We're being targeted. Take the shot?" Lars didn't dare poke his head out from the rock again, knowing that another marksman was waiting for an easy kill, "Take the shot, bring him down."

Adam replied just one word, "Roger." He carefully loaded a single armor-piercing high-velocity round into the barrel of his sniper rifle. He lined up the shot and stabilized the gun. He took the shot, the bullet shot through the window and knocked the figure to the ground, dropping the gun it held. Accompanied with the shot came a loud cannon-like explosion from the barrel of Adam's gun. The shot echoed through the trees and across the hills.

A minute later Adam voiced back to Lars, "Target down. Target down. No movement in the house." Adam continued to scan the building and once satisfied moved behind the rock and took off his telescopic lens.

Lars sighed with relief, today would not be the day they had to infiltrate the house and take the target by force. He looked back to Montalo and smiled, "Mission accomplished target down. Move in."

Adam stood up and began to move towards the group through the trees, "That was easy, I just saved your butts too."

Lars chuckled and replied with, "Not a chance, we were pinned down, but we aren't that dumb."

Adam moved down the rock face slowly between two trees, getting closer to the group, "Alright, I see you. I'll be right there. You can buy---"

From the house a loud gunshot rattled the windows and a single round burst through the air and slammed into Adam as he exposed himself for a second. Lars dropped his phone on the ground when he heard the shot connect, a terrible sound. Adam was struck in the chest, causing his body to crack under the force of the round as it broke through his body and out the other side into the rock where it exploded into pieces.

Adam had no idea what hit him, the shot was so powerful it killed him on contact, piercing through his lung and spinal cord, even if he was alive he would be paralyzed. Though a second shot rang out as Adam's body fell on the ground. The sound of the second shot rung through the phone, another crack. The round entered Adam's skull and destroyed any trace of his face.

Lars turned around to see the rock behind him and looked to see what had befallen Adam. Adam was without a head, blood coated the rock and trickled down its face to the brush below. Lars looked away and cringed slightly.

Everyone heard the shot, the first one killed, the second one was unnecessary, but only further terrified the remaining twelve. Montalo put his hand on the back of Lars and whispered, "We'll get that bastard. Adam got tricked by a decoy."

Miko buried her head into her hands and cried, just like that a proud man's life had ended and she heard the two shots that bestowed such a gruesome fate upon her new acquaintance.

Everyone exchanged worried looks with each other, and prepared themselves for a dangerous operation that lay ahead of them. Montalo put his hand on Janus and Carl, "Janus, let's blow up that damn house. Carl you Take watch for someone leaving the house, kill whoever runs."

Janus breathed in and popped up over the rock where Lars peaked out and took aim. A gunshot rung out almost instantly as he popped his head over the rock, Janus was shot in the head and from the sudden shock fired his rocket into the air. Janus's head exploded when the bullet tore through, blowing it clear off his body. Showering the group below with blood and other matter.

Miko screamed first, from the initial shot of the gun and then again when blood splatted against her mask and cheek. She buried herself in to her thighes and fell into a fetal position. Terrified of what was happening.

Montalo turned white as soon as the shot was fired, he knew what happened. He winced and pushed the body of Janus up over the rock so it did not fall back onto everyone.

Zarus looked at Monalo and asked, "Shell the house?" Montalo nodded and added, "Be damn careful about it to! Don't expose yourself."

Zarus nodded and pulled out a pistol from his vest and pointed it at the body of Janus, "Sorry man." He grabbed hold of his comrades leg and shot into the chest shooting two holes in to his friend. Blood poured down the rock as the gaping wounds of Janus covered the rock.

Zarus looked at the house through the body of Janus and nodded, "We're going to have to shell the house and split up. Find your positions. We'll move as a team and storm the house. The gun he's using is custom, but its so powerful that its long range. Aurum knew our position, but he was anticipating Adam and waited for the shot. Move out, find his position and overtake him by force. Bevos, Jinn and Nav, you'll get your chance to storm the front. Oni move around back and cut off the escape route, if he gets to the trees we'll be back to square one. Han, assist me as a spotter. Miko…go with Oni, he'll need the back up."

Zarus pulled out two pistols from his pocket and handed one to Miko and one to Oni. They were painted green and were simple handguns, but it gave them power at least. The chamber was thin, but six inches long. The slide over it had been painted separately to not cause jamming. Even the receiver was painted to match the gun's camouflage needs.

"These are Shinra's standard MA1991 pistols. They are accurate and powerful, but have an incredibly powerful recoil despite their size. This gun fires 9 mm rounds and each magazine comes with just fifteen shots. Here take two extra magazines each. If you run out of rounds press the ejector here on the receiver and it will release the magazine. The sight is a little high, but just line the sight up with the target and pull the trigger, if you are anything under three hundred feet you should be able to hit it."

Lance and Carl pointed out two alcoves in the rock face which would hide their position from the house, but give them easy targets on the right and left side of the house windows. Bevos, Jinn and Nav found a winding path through some brush and rocks and trees that would get them close to the house. Oni and Miko's path would take them back away from the command position and around the back of the house. The rock face to the west would be a bad place to run to, but Oni and Miko needed to guard the east escape route which would be Aurum's likely escape route. Montalo would move alone around to the east side.

Montalo pulled out two phones and handed one to Oni and one to Miko, "Here, as Clan Arush members, you get these communicator phones, everyone is on a unified signal. Since you are hunters you already know the ins and outs of closing in. Stick the basics and we should be alright.

Zarus looked at everyone and asked, "Ready?" He held a shell over the launcher and it was aimed at the house. Everyone exchanged looks to each other and nodded. Zarus dropped the shell in and lit the fuse, the shell shot high into the air and arced down towards the house.

The explosion tore into the house and a secondary explosion went off, the wood splintered and flames began to consume the house. Everyone waited until the explosion before running off towards their separate positions. Zarus fired five shells into the house, each one whistling in the air before slamming into the house and destroying it entirely.

Bevos, Jinn and Nav ran through the winding path towards the house which was torched, the flames consuming everything. Their hand guns drawn they swiftly bobbed back and forth between the rocks. Stopping at the base of the burning house.

Montalo ran to the east side, jumping and running as fast as he could around to the back side of the housing. His muscular legs were strong and quick and he quickly got around to the back of the house and set up his position skillfully between a oak tree and a bush. His vantage point being directly over the house and having a clear view of the escape route. Han lagged behind, covering the line between Montalo and Lars and Zarus.

Oni and Miko darted and ran as quick as lightning through the trees, the shells still falling onto the house when they reached the western escape point. The two moved quickly and precisely in between two trees and crouched down.

Carl and Lance separated as the shells fell and took the two alcoves in the rock as their point. They got to watch the house burn and set up their guns first. The two hid behind the stone faces and pointed their guns out eagerly waiting for the chance to get the kill.

After the five shells hit Lars sent a message through to everyone, "Positions established?" One by one each member reported in. All eleven had confirmed they were set up in place within seconds of the shells landing.

Lars looked to Zarus and gave him a high five, "Alright. We'll let Jinn's group storm in?"

"Sounds fair, let them go in."

Lars called out to everyone, "Alright, Bevos, Jinn and Nav. You three are up. Storm the house from the gaping hole Zarus made and take him out." Lars watched through the binoculars, anticipating a quick end to the tension situation. The target was definitely inside and was trapped.

Bevos ran through the still smoking and burning hole made by the first shell and entered the building. The smoke was thick and choking, but a figure stood out in the room.

"You scum! Eat my lead!" Bevos yelled as he opened up his pistols and fired at the figure, but it moved like water and moved across the floor gracefully only to deliver a powerful uppercut to the chin of Bevos.

The cry Bevos made as he was hit was heard through the phones and Jinn and Nav burst through firing at the smoke. Dozens of shots were fired, but then the sound of flesh being penetrated by rounds and a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the phones was heard. Since Bevos, Nav and Jinn all wore their phones on them activated all the time the cries were amplified sending out feedback which made everyone flinch. Though the sound of a body falling to the floor was definitely heard.

"You…you shot me…" gasped Bevos as he lay on the floor, three bullet holes in his chest. His phone transmitted his voice to everyone, and at once everyone's joy turned to horror. Bevos gasped and gurgled as he tried to get up, his futile efforts made everyone freeze in their tracks.

Jinn approached Bevos and pointed the gun at his comrades face, "I'm sorry Bevos." The sound of a single round shot through the phones as another burst of loud feedback. Bevos' body fell motionless and Jinn fired another shot directly into the phone, cutting its transmission instantly.

Jinn lead the way, Nav followed behind, both of their pistols were drawn, ready for their unseen attacker. The crackling of the flames and the creaking of the burning building overtook their senses to the less obvious, the sound of a gun cocking.

Nav shouted to Jinn, "GET DOWN!" Though it was already too late. A red hot explosion came from inside the burning house as a third bullet was fired and shot Jinn in the heart, instantly destroying his phone and killing him at close range.

"JINN!" screamed Montalo and Nav through the phones.

Nav burst in and fired wildly at the source of the fire, but a third shot silenced the angry man. Nav was shot in the head at close range. Nav's lifeless body fell to the ground and the sound of rustling was heard.

Miko was crying in the background. Montalo was growling in pure anger. Lance and Carl were softly cursing terrible words in anger, but Oni stood quiet.

Aurum picked up the phone of Nav's body and raised it to his lips, "You have thirty seconds to leave here, before I kill another one of you."

Miko let out a muffled scream and her body broke down, her wounds opened and blood poured down her arms and thighs, she was unable to take the carnage inflicted like this, but even worse was her body was failing her.

Oni stood perfectly still, waiting for the opportunity to kill whoever or whatever left the house. Montalo stood defiant in his position and didn't move, only prepared himself for the next shot.

Thirty seconds passed and nothing happened.

Everyone became tense, it was a stand off with a man trapped in a burning building. Then another volley of shells shot into the air from Zarus and Lars position. The five shells slammed into the house and the house exploded and fell in on itself, everything burned wildly in the inferno. Then only the sound of the raging fire remained. The fire died down a little, only large pieces of timber burned wildly and even they to died down in time.

Soon an hour had gone by and the sounds of the fire crackling through the phone died out as the phone was destroyed. Montalo sighed and spoke first, "The phone is dead. No one could have survived that. Let's pack it up. Lars how are you?"

No response came through.

"Lars? Lance? Carl? Oni? Han? Miko?"

Suddenly Oni cursed and yelled into the phone, "BREAK!" He grabbed Miko by the hand and ran off into the woods. Han from his carefully hidden position took off in an opposite direction.

Montalo gasped and remarked at his own stupidity as he heard the sound of three phones being smashed against the ground. As he backed up he felt a metal object be placed against his back.

A cold and murderous voice filled him with dread, "Montalo Riga." Montalo turned and to look at the man, but the gun fired and instantly killed him before he could get a look at his murderer. Shot in the back Montalo slumped against the tree, his hand still on his weapon.

The bodies of Lars and Zarus lay dead in their camp, their throats slit through the voice box, cutting off any chance of alerting the others. Lance and Carl lay dead in their alcoves, their throats also silently slit. Aurum had killed the entire Clan Arush a little over an hour, but his sights were trained on the three Ex-SOLDIERs now. 


	6. Aurum

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth Chapter 6: Aurum

A man stood watch from a distance, the burning remains of the house were smoldering. Wearing a black suit with a red tie the man had bright blonde hair. The man had a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. His face was young, but tough. His blue eyes were cold and far-seeing, its as if he saw a different world then other people. His gaze was that of a veteran soldier.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone, pressing several numbers in and began to wait. The toothpick in his mouth bobbed up and down as he waited. He rested his back on a great oak tree and waited. He had hid under the leafy green foliage of the trees, but he was still witness to the fight that had gone on.

He had stubble on his face, at least three days worth of it. He carried no more then a small Shinra sniper rifle with him and a phone, he was a professional.

At last a response came through the phone, "Hello. This is Mrs. Kisaragi, what is the problem." The soft voice of the woman was pleasing and mature then he had remembered in all the years prior to their reunion under the W.R.O. yet she still had some attitude problems it seemed.

"This is Blonde. The situation has turned violent. I require back up."

From her desk in Wutai the matured Yuffie rotated in her chair and put her soft hand on her head as she thought about what to do. Dressed in a yellow clothing to display her power as ruling figure of Wutai she even wore the ceremonious bangles and a ribbon passed onto her from her father. Yuffie had grown into a woman at last, but still her stubborn and rudeness shown through at times.

She spoke to Blonde and sighed, "Back up is on the way, hold position for two hours. Oh…Blonde, you better be right about this."

Yuffie turned the phone off an immediately called Cid Highwind. The phone rang only once before a familiar face picked up, "Ya? What is it?" Cid's voice was groggy and a little slurred, it was like he had been sleepy or drinking.

Yuffie smirked at Cid's slurred speech and gave him the order, "You are going to need to take off from Edge with two familiar faces, Cloud and Tifa Strife."

"Whoa? I haven't seen them for three months since the wedding. I'll be ready and waiting, Yuffie." said Cid, who was obviously excited.

Yuffie clicked off the phone and sat in her chair, thinking to herself, wondering how to break the situation to the married couple. It only took a minute, but she found a way to tell them, and even if it was a lie she would get Cloud and Tifa to end this on-going situation with the strongest remaining Tviste in the world. She picked up the phone and called Cloud.

It rung three times before Cloud picked up, the sound of giggling and sheets rustling were heard, Yuffie almost dropped the phone when she heard Cloud speak, he was panting a little and his voice was soft, "Hello? Hello?"

Before Cloud had a change to hang up on the silent caller Yuffie blurted out, "Cloud. It's Yuffie. We have a situation." She was blushing and angry at the same time at the two of them.

Cloud's voice became serious and worried almost instantly, "You said you would never call unless it dealt with…"

"Sephiroth is making a move again." interrupted Yuffie. She lied very well and had been practicing more then usual lately. She was the leader of Wutai and a leading member of the W.R.O., but more importantly she was assigned the task of doing the impossible and somehow turning a lie into a truth.

"Where?" Cloud asked. Tifa rolled over and moaned softly to Cloud, "Honey, what's the matter?" Yuffie was again disturbed that she was interfering with their activities, but continued despite her own conscious telling her not to say anything.

"Five miles south of Kalm. Cid will be waiting for you." she said, hanging up the phone. Yuffie started to break down and rested her head on the desk, her hands covering her face as she cried into them. She felt guilty and sad about what she had just done and took it bitterly. All alone in the top of the Pagoda she let her tears flow freely.

Cloud turned to Tifa on the bed and got up, "He's come back again." Tifa wrapped the covers around herself tighter as Cloud took away happiness for business. She understood and hated it at the same time.

"I never thought it would come to this." Tifa sighed. Throwing back the covers and reaching for her clothes. Cloud put on his black shirt and pants in front of her as they talked.

Throwing on his leather vest Cloud stated, "Its for the planet, but I promise I won't help the W.R.O. after this." Tifa stopped putting on her bra and stared at the changed Cloud; his relentless spirit had been quelled after becoming a husband to her, but he still stood as a pillar of strength to her. Her childhood love and now husband had never been iron willed before, but it seemed as if even he was changing and somehow staying all the same still.

Cloud turned to Tifa and smiled, "I'll be waiting outside." Tifa smiled back and threw on her black shirt. Then she put her black shorts on and watched Cloud leave the room and go down the hall.

Tifa moved over to the desk next to the closet and pulled out a drawer. Inside was a cherry box that was artfully painted with the words, "Fight for what you believe in." She smiled and opened it saying, "I should have changed it to 'Fight for your love' now that I have him."

Inside was her weapon, a metal fist with five shining materia slots. The black gloves were her favorite weapon and even putting them on she felt power come back to her; everything she did years ago was done wearing these gloves. She slipped one on the right hand first and then the left. Backwards from what she originally learned.

"I've become ambidextrous in my fighting skill and completed my training. My master would be proud."

She closed the box and put it back into the desk and turned to the door and walked out. She gracefully clenched her raised fists and smiled as she added, "Maybe this time I can actually test them out."

Cloud waited for Tifa on his bike, his sword placed inside the bike itself. He stood watching the door, placing on his black goggles and fixing his still spikey yellow hair. When Tifa came out she grinned and hopped onto the back of the bike saying, "I'll make your cake when we get back, okay honey?" Cloud blushed and returned the grin.

They took off down the street towards Edge. Passing the beautiful trees and grass as they neared the city. Tifa held onto Cloud tightly from behind. The two were happy knowing that they would never leave each other behind again, the couple made their vows early May and they had been husband and wife for three months. Though on Cloud's birthday Sephiroth came back on a quiet August day. Once more the two of them knew they would be thrown into conflict with the threat to the planet.

As they neared the city newer buildings started to come into view, brick and wood structures lined the dirt roads. People were expanding away from Midgar, spreading out farther and farther. Each house they passed had beautiful tended fields of crops and some livestock, occasionally their would be two houses close together.

Even the poorest citizens of Midgar had spread out across the plains in an effort to stake out a better life, but it was not easy. The fields needed to be worked, even though the harvest drew closer and closer it would be only the beginning of their toils. Cloud and Tifa flew past the farms on their bike, down the dirt roads and at last the wreckage-city of Edge appeared on the horizon.

Edge was built from debris of Midgar and was falling apart even now. The steel structures jutted out from the ground and clawed towards the sky even as they appeared like they were about to fall. As they headed into Edge a few pieces of land appeared to have been cleaned out as factories poured smoke and steam into the sky. Dirty men and women worked bringing in carts of debris and scrap metal Midgar and Edge's falling structures to the factories to reforge them into something of use.

Soaring past the people Cloud pointed out the open field at the edge of the city, the Highwind waited. They came to the end of a dirt road and saw a paved one, the bike jumped onto the clean pavement and Cloud accelerated towards a small shack near the large airship. Other smaller craft came into view. Thin wisps of smoke billowed out of the shack and into the air.

A man greeted them in a grey vest, it was Cid. The dirty blonde hair of Cid was partly covered by leather goggles, and in his mouth was a paper cigarette. He wore a silver pendant around his neck that clung to his blue t-shirt and tanned leather pants. His arm stretched out to greet Cloud and Tifa as they approached on the bike.

Cid grinned as Cloud pulled up next to him and both Cloud and Tifa got off the bike, "Hey. Look it's the married couple, back in action in just three months after their union."

Tifa couldn't help, but give a slight giggle. Cloud didn't laugh, but looked up at the Highwind. Cid rested his hand on Cloud's shoulder, "Not that one, we're going in the Tiny Bronco II. It's just to Kalm basically."

Cid stepped back and showed a familiar red craft that had appeared to be like the first Tiny Bronco. It had a more powerful engine and looked capable of flying faster then before. It still had the familiar 'Bronco' paintjob it had before, but some subtle differences stood out. It was armed.

"Hop on in everyone, let's go!" said Cid.

He pulled back the cockpit and Tifa and Cloud jumped up and entered in. Cid turned the key and the Tiny Bronco II roared to life, the propellers spun and it moved.

"Hold onto your drawers!" yelled Cid.

The Tiny Bronco geared up and moved down the pavement, it began to bounce and softly lifted into the air before bouncing down on the ground. Then Cid pulled up and it flew into the sky, everyone was sucked into their seats as it shot up into the air and lurched east. The sun flashed into everyone's eyes as Cid brought the craft around and headed south, climbing higher into the air. Cloud and Tifa's hair blew wildly in the wind, but the thrill of flying was exhilarating.

Tifa threw her arms up in the air and yelled, "Alright!" in surprise and wrapped her arms around Cloud tightly as Cid pointed the Tiny Bronco down and leveled out the plane. It soared high above Edge and Midgar.

From the ground people looked up into the sky and waved to the plane as it took flight. Though from the ground they were mere dots. The Tiny Bronco flew quickly and darted between the mid-morning fog as they soared south east towards Kalm.

After several minutes of flight Cid looked back at the two and yelled over the roar of the engine, "I used the old Tiny Bronco's parts and made this new one! She still has the same spirit she always did!"

Cloud nodded and could barely understand Cid over the roar of the engine and the wind, everything moved so quickly. Cid thrust the throttle and the engines became even louder, Cid pushed the plane harder and everything jumped. The ground blurred and everything seemed to fade into nothingness except the plane and its crew.

Then they sighted Kalm and Cid started to slow the plane and he checked his phone. A call came through and he yelled into it, "Blonde? Alright! We are coming down."

Cloud tapped Cid on the back as he shut off the phone, "What is it?"

Cid pointed down, "We have to land. Hold on!" Tifa clinged to Cloud tighter as the plane jerked and Cid pointed it down, cutting off the planes engines. Falling into a gliding descent.

They passed Kalm and continued south towards a small collection of hills on the map it was still technically part of Kalm, but was on the far outskirts. The winds ripped though the cockpit as they descended into the fields below.

As it touched down the plane jerked violently and Cid pushed a line out and something shot from the back and jerked the plane, but it quickly anchored the plane into the ground and Cid pushed another button and a spring released as the plane came to a complete stop.

A man came running up to the Tiny Bronco. His blonde hair and black suit had the markings of a W.R.O. member. He spoke firmly and business-like, "I'm Blonde. Ex-SOLDIER and W.R.O. intelligence expert." Cloud took one look at the man and centered his eyes coldly on the man. Blonde sensing this dislike turned to Cloud and smiled, "I didn't realize this was as serious as first believed. A man named Aurum killed a bunch of Hunters and has been on a rampage lately. Three Ex-SOLDIERs identitifed were with the Clan Arush, but they took off into the woods and I lost track of them."

Tifa stood next to Cloud and Cid was silent. Blonde handed his phone to Cloud. He pressed a few buttons and saw the faces of Oni, Han and Miko and then a man with silver hair and a slender form, all taken in this location. Then a picture of the Clan Arush group from an earlier date.

"They are here?" asked Cloud.

"Clan Arush was wiped out, the other three disappeared about two hours ago. Aurum is the silver haired man, but it that is not his true hair color, it was blonde originally."

Blonde shook his head, "His appearance has changed and his behavior has been exceedingly disturbing. I am barely able to track him, but somehow this band of Hunters and Ex-SOLDIERs staged an attack on him and even as elites they were simply slaughtered."

Cloud handed him back the phone and stared at Tifa, "Sounds like him, huh?" Tifa nodded and stepped back, thinking to herself. Rationalizing if it was really true that Sephiroth was back.

Cid turned to leave and called to Cloud and Tifa, "Alright, I'm heading back. Take care of this you two. When you need a pick-up just call." He hopped into the Tiny Bronco and looked at Cloud again, "Happy birthday, Cloud."

The engines roared and Cid shifted the Tiny Bronco's gears and turned it around. Gunning the throttle and quickly lifting up into the skies again. He disappeared into the sun and Cloud turned his attention to Blonde again.

"It's an honor to work with you two." he said as he bowed respectfully. "If we move west of here we will be able to cut off two of the three, and possibly the rest of the SOLDIER group. The order is to kill Aurum before he reaches Kalm, but he makes no mistakes."

Cloud and Tifa started to follow Blonde west into the woods, they ran at a sprint moving as fast as they can to spot and trap Aurum as he dealt with the Hunters.

Meanwhile in the depths of the woods to the west, Oni and Miko were leaping behind trees as they were being pursued by Aurum. Their footfalls were silent as they broke through the trees, they had been pursued for two hours and the strain on their bodies was growing with each passing second.

At last Miko said to Oni, "He's still behind us. Let's make our stand." Oni nodded and the two stopped on the side of the cliff. They turned around to see a black suited man bob and weave through the trees, long flowing silver hair covered hair trailing behind him as he swiftly moved in for the kill.

Oni pulled out his gun from off his back and fired at the man, but he disappeared behind a tree and the bullets hit the trunk, harmlessly cutting into the base of the tree. Miko jumped up higher and her eyes flashed as fire erupted in an explosion falling two nearby trees and creating a wall of flame to cut off retreat. At last Aurum spoke his voice cold and sinister, just as he spoke through the phone, "Where is Han?"

Oni's eyes widened and Miko literally gasped as the figure showed himself. He was not carrying a gun in his hands.

"Where is he? I need to be with Han." Aurum repeated.

Oni pointed the gun at his body and Miko focused her eyes on his body. Though Miko saw the similarity to Sephiroth, it was clearly not him. She began to tear up at seeing the man and having been tormented by this man for the entire day.

"Where is Han?" Aurum repeated again, moving towards Oni.

Oni fired and Aurum dropped to the ground, though no blood was drawn and no visible mark was seen. Aurum's body faded into the ground and disappeared.

Oni looked around and shouted, "Where are you!?"

Through the trees a cold laughter filled the air, it was mocking Oni for his vain attempt to kill him. Miko stepped back and propped herself up against the rock face.

"You can't kill me. We are one in the same."

Several copies of Aurum stepped out from beyond the trees and laughed at Oni. They spoke in unison and even laughted together, "I am a sacrifice to Sephiroth. Bring me to Han. Aha-ha-ha! Take me! Take us, to Han!"

Oni pointed his gun at the left most Aurum and then shifted to the right, then to the center and drew back in fear, he was outmatched ten to one by Aurum. The ground began to give way and spikes shot up from below the Aurums', piercing their bodies, but causing no visible damage. It was like fighting a ghost, no matter what was done to them it had no effect on the body.

"What are you!?" Miko cried out, seeing her magic had no effect on Aurum. Though the forms of Aurum turned their heads to her and faded into nothing right before her very eyes.

"Dammit. Stop toying with us!" yelled Oni. He backed himself into the rock face next to Miko and stood ready to fight back, even if they would be slaughtered in the end.

Aurum appeared between Miko and Oni, his presence just came into place as if he teleported right next to the two. He whispered into a distracted and paranoid ear of Oni, "Will you take me to Han?"

Oni's eyes widened and he turned around and fired a shot right into the chest of Aurum. Miko screamed and fell down the rock face, landing next to a tree. Her leg bleeding badly as the form of Aurum disappeared again.

"You shot me, Oni! Why!? It hurts!" cried out Miko, her hand wrapped around her leg. She placed her hand into the bullet wound and started to dig into it. The wound grew larger as she dug in and extracted some shrapnel from her leg. The armor piercing round did not shoot clean through her leg, but instead hit the thick metal plate and exploded into her at the close range.

Oni rushed down the hill and looked at her leg as she pulled out pieces of shrapnel from the bullet exploding in her. Then with the bloodied hand she closed her eyes and the wound healed and she stood up again.

Distracted, but not confused Oni kept a watch for the ghost-like Aurum. Shouting into the woods, "What do you want with Han?"

Aurum appeared next to Miko again, his body nuzzling the form of Miko without alerting her. He waved her hand in front of Miko's eyes and smiled. Miko yelled at Oni, completely unaware of Aurum's presence, "Oni!? Why did you shoot me!?"

Oni looked at her, "You can't see him next to you, his hand in front of your face?" Miko shook her head and looked around, but saw nothing at all.

"You've lost it Oni, there is no one here. Aurum is gone." she stated.

Oni shouted into the woods, "Aurum, show yourself to me! Why can't Miko see you? What's going on?"

The Aurum nuzzling Miko disappeared and laughter filled the woods before the cold voice spoke again, "I am a manifestation of your mind. I exist, but I don't exist. I can make myself appear to you or hide my presence from your senses. Take me to Han.

Oni looked around and yelled out, "You lie, you know where Han is. You take us to him!"

The figure of Aurum appeared again, propped up against the rock face, a grin on his face. He chuckled and smiled widely, "You are worthy. I can hide or show myself to anyone I please if they have Mother in them. I can break people and control them if they are weak-willed. Even now I control this soul-less body with Mother. Those foolish enough to act like my father make perfect shells, the absence of spirit in a still living body makes possession effortless."

Miko turned and gasped, "Sephiroth!?"

Aurum bowed and smiled, "A manifestation of my spirit through the soul-less. My beautiful fiancé, I await you at the Northern Crater. Oni, what you seek is also at the Northern Crater. Return to Kalm quickly. Han will be waiting."

The body of Aurum faded out. Oni turned to Miko and stared at each other.

"Fiancé?" Oni asked Miko.

"What do you seek, Oni?" Miko asked Oni.

The two stood looking at each other, an awkward moment in which both their innermost desires had been revealed. Sephiroth promised to marry Miko and deliver Oni with the means to get revenge on AVALANCHE. Truly, Sephiroth had returned. 


	7. Han

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth Chapter 7: Han 

Han ran through the woods and into the fields, heading towards Kalm, running from his pursuer. His hair bobbed and jumped wildly as he pumped his strong legs as fast as he could, running fast towards Kalm. Then a gunshot made him widen his eyes in fear. A bullet tore through his thigh and he fell to the ground, slamming into the tall grass and rolling.

Han gasped and panted, dragging his injured leg as he tried to crawl for cover, but Aurum appeared before him instantly.

"Han, do not run from me. I am your sacrifice." he said. Aurum bent down and touched Han's leg and it felt better, but Han could not feel Aurum's hand on his thigh.

The bullet wound healed on its own and the pain was gone, gasped and in terror Han moved back from a smiling Aurum, "What do you mean? Who are you?"

"I am Sephiroth and I am sacrificing myself to you."

Han got to his feet and looked at the man, it was the same one in his dream, it was Sephiroth. Aside from the two white pauldron plates on his shoulders he bore a striking resemblance to Sephiroth, though the manner in which he spoke and even moved was clearly that of Sephiroth.

Aurum bowed before Han and looked into his eyes, "You seek power. Great power. I'll be your sacrifice to find that power. One the time comes my body will become yours. In my flesh is Mother, in your flesh is Mother. Together our combined power will be unmatched in this world."

Han gasped and stared at Aurum, unable to believe what he heard or thought was even possible, stammering out the only response he could, "I-I won't e-e-eat you! It-it's wrong!"

Aurum nodded and helped Han to his feet, literally picking Han up off the ground to do so. His voice was calm and sagely, "Not all of my body, just the concentrated cells of Jenova that reside in it."

Han moved back, his face showing his nervous reaction to Aurum and his offer. Aurum stepped forward stretching his arm out toward hand in an effort to grasp the youthful man overcome by sudden morality.

Receding slowly, Han motioned back more, "I won't eat you. I'll become a monster." Aurum started to laugh slightly, realizing what Han was thinking.

"Eat? That is bad word to describe it. However, consumption is the closest thing to being able to describe what it really is."

Aurum moved forward towards Han. Slowly, but surely Han stopped and Aurum placed his hand onto Han's right shoulder, grasping it firmly, like a father to a son, "Will you take me, Han?"

Han's eyes focused in and defiance surged through him as he yelled, "I want to become powerful on my own!"

Suddenly, Aurum started to hold his head and gasp and groan in pain, "What are you doing, old man! Stop! You are a part of me! Nooo!" Aurum fell back a few steps and something changed about Aurum, his eyes wided and it looked as if he viewed Han for the first time.

"Ah.. Experiment No. 322. Han Akasugi. Age 23. Experiment No. 321. Oni Akasugi. Age 24. Experiment No. 323. Miko Akasugi. Age 21. The trio of SOLDIER. It's been a long time Han, you've progressed more then I could have imagined in these past 11 years."

Han eyed Aurum. His voice had changed and no longer was a powerful influence over him. Something had happened to Aurum, he was no longer himself.

Aurum continued, "While you have progressed you are still not at your peak. Sephiroth may not know how to convey it to you, but only a respected and wonderful scientist like me can! Ha-ha-ha."

Aurum started to pace back and forth a little bit, holding his chin with his right hand and nodding, "Where to begin, from the beginning of course. 11 years ago while the Akasugi family was in Wutai the swine managed to capture and torture your family, until Sephiroth freed you. Since your mother and father died during torture and captivity you three were selected for SOLDIER. Being far too young, I tested three separate cases on each one of you. Your brother with super-senses, you with super-speed and your sister with embedded materia."

Han growled, "She suffers to this day for what you did Hojo!"

Aurum laughed and Han grabbed Aurum by the chest and lifted him up off the ground, "Do you want to die?" Aurum continued laughing at Han. Han flung Aurum down through the air in an attempt to slam him into the ground, but Aurum quickly foresaw it and threw Han instead by quickly changing position to have Han's energy be used against him. Han landed on the ground with a thud and Aurum stepped onto his chest with a dirty boot.

"You see. Unlike what happened two years ago with Omega and Vincent Valentine, I've become used to entering bodies and my power surpasses even my own son. Now sit back and let me finish!"

"This body is just a mere shell, I uploaded Aurum's mind to the World Network and shot him in the head, but managed to resurrect with more experimentation on his body. Sadly his brain was gone and he proved incapable of being useful. Though the injection of more Jenova cells lead to a breakthrough! The mind repaired itself and infected the soul, devouring his spirit and it was expelled. All that remained was a zombie shell that was perfectly configured for control, but with no method to control I threw the body into stasis. Luckily I split conscious self between Aurum and Weiss and infected them both, but I was beaten and only after awakening after the death of Omega and Chaos did I used my will to reconnect myself and Sephiroth to this body! Aurum is able to be used by anyone with a strong will and spirit to control the body!"

"Where is Aurum's mind?" asked Han.

"Oh, his mind? Destroyed I bet! Hee hee hee! The meteor almost destroyed my consciousness to, but thanks to the Jenova cells it performed a sort of Neo-Reunion and allowed me to become whole again upon restoration of the World Network!"

Han drew both katanas and pointed them at Aurum, "Hojo, you will pay for what you have done."

With a flick of his wrist Aurum reached inside his left cuff with his right hand and drew four needles, instantly launching them into the neck of Han. The needles were sharp and cut through, instantly drawing blood, but contained a sinister mix of chemicals on the tip, instantly paralyzing the body of Han and shocking his system with intense pain. Han could not even move his own mouth or breathe from the intense paralysis.

Aurum smiled, "You see Han, I have all the cards. My son needs help, from you. You either listen to our demands or you die right here and now. Simple as that." Aurum kneeled down before Han and smiled wickedly.

"Let's help you say what's on your mind." sighed Aurum, drawing needle from inside his right cuff with his left hand. He fired it with a flick of his wrist into Han's neck, dangerously close to his vocal chords, but still missing any veins.

Han gasped and his body writhed out of control. His back rose off the ground and his chest shook, eyes grew large and bulged in his eye sockets. Every vein in his body exploded in size as blood surged through him, his entire being screaming out in agony, but some small ability to be able to live, where each breath felt like it would be your last. Between the border of life and death in a mystical Hell that existed for those rare few to be tortured by masters of pain.

Han gasped for air again, his second breathe and writhed more and more, unable to control his own body. It had been less then a minute he was without any movement at all, but he had literally died until Aurum's needle brought him back from the verge of death. He mouthed two words to Aurum, two clear and intense words.

"You insolent insignificant flea! What a foolish waste of a living being! You refuse…oh no….no!"

Aurum suddenly convulsed and started to scream, "Don't! No! NO! NO!" His head wracked in pain and suffering, but then silence as Aurum fell to the ground and ontop of Han.

Blood seeped from the ears of Aurum and onto Han. It burned his flesh and stung, it contained Jenova cells in it. The body of Aurum started to breakdown, blood started to pour through the black clothes and the body twisted and cracked impossibly as it was reduced to a jelly-like state.

Han couldn't move, but still screamed as the body of Aurum soaked him in crimson blood, burning him as Jenova cells entered his body. As if the blood acted on its own it started to run up his face towards his mouth.

Han's screams served only to hasten the blood's entrance, now glowing faintly of its own accord, into his body. The blood poured into his mouth, the usual iron taste filled his mind, but it burned and hurt his body. He was drowning in a pool of blood in his mouth.

He breathed in and his body convulsed and he accidentally swallowed it in his body spasms. Though all of a sudden all the pain vanished and a voice filled his head.

_Han. Return to Mother._

Han had no idea what this thought was, but slowly and surely his mind was being warped. Every cell in hid body screamed to leave this place, pain filled him. At last he heard the will of Sephiroth freely, but it was not pure. Soon a collection of cries filled his soul, one belonging to Hojo, some belonging to other members of SOLDIER, to ordinary people, but then one to the traitor Cloud.

_Kill Cloud. Destroy the traitor._

It was as if all of Jenova was connected to itself, the thoughts of Sephiroth traveled the planet, through the cells of Jenova. At last Han had been bestowed a greater power.

Visions flashed before him. He would have to regroup with Miko and Oni and rush to Northern Crater. Inside the house lay the means to get to the crater and the reach Sephiroth. There would be so much to do so quickly. Han became enlightened, Sephiroth himself showed the path to greatness and resurrection. The time would come when Han would regain his honor as a SOLDIER and Sephiroth would rule the world. Little did Han know that he had become a complete pawn to Sephiroth.


	8. Banishment

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth

Chapter 8: Banishment

The body of Hojo's mutated form entered Bone Village, but an old man appeared to be waiting for him. His blank eyes stared at nothing as the horror entered the village.

He began reciting a strange chant and waving a lantern at the body of Hojo. Suddenly, Hojo was ripped from his possession of Aurum and returned back to his physical body. Banishing Sephiroth back to his with one fell ancient chant.

Hojo's body twisted and fell to the ground, the mad scientist growled and screamed, snarling at the old man, "YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!"

The blind old man approached Hojo, "I've freed your body of a captive spirit with ancient magic." The old man in tan pants and a red shirt hobbled back into the town mumbling something to himself about ungrateful fools.

Enraged with the sudden change of plans and being expelled from his body and returned to this painful existence he lunged forth at the old man and thrust his tentacle arms out at the man. Piercing through the back in the center of the spinal cord and out through the chest Hojo lifted the man into the air and threw the dying man into a tree with it.

The old man's face was bashed In like the rest of his body as Hojo whipped it around like a rag doll, smashing it into tree after tree, swinging the lifeless body around like a child with a toy in a fit of rage. At last the body broke in two and fell to the ground in a pile of mangled flesh and bone.

Hojo entered the town and several archeologists gasped in horror as he entered the site. A beautiful thirty year old archeologist named Ella spotted Hojo first, and screamed as she dropped her shovel and ran inside the tent.

"John! Sam! Mark! Something is attacking the village!"

Two old man emerged from the tent. One wearing thick coke-bottle glasses, his wild hair was untamed and flew everywhere without a single care in the world. His clothes were torn and dirty. The typical tan clothes of an archeologist in Gaia. Though he looked like he was in his late thirties he had the sort of aura that made him seem like a child. He sported a cigar in his mouth and a large cannon in his hand. The second man was in his sixties and held up a pickaxe threateningly. A white beard covered his face, but aside from his feeble body stood a seasoned soldier who still knew how to fight after all these years.

John yelled first, "What the hell are you? Get away from here!"

Sam moved closer and raised his pickaxe high into the air, "Git! Else you'll get a thrashing - HOJO!"

The horror stopped and craned its neck impossibly to the right, breaking its own neck and then continuing to rotate it further and futher until it cracked again, with a single snap thrusting it back into place. The two old men gasped in horror upon this sight and began to move back to the tent slowly.

"Pardon me. I need your bodies for my work. It will only hurt for a moment."

Hojo's arm twisted and detached from his stomach and fell to the ground. It diffused into two writhing snake-like horrors, black ooze shooting from their bodies. Twisting, writhing and squirming they began to develop teeth and became voracious horrors.

Before the two men knew what happened the snake-like creatures pounced on them, flying through the air and opening their mouths widely. They engulfed the heads of their two victims down to the neck and sunk their teeth in and let gravity take over as they snapped the neck of their victims and tore the head off the body. Crimson streams of blood shot from their necks into the mouths of the horrors as they gorged themselves on the blood of their victims.

After feasting themselves on ample amounts of blood they turned to Hojo hungrily and leaped into the air, but their creator simply thrust his arms into the two deviant creatures and spewed black poison onto them. They melted and were absorbed as nutrients back into his body.

Hojo returned to his human form and laughed as he grasped his ruined lab coat with one hand and tore it to shreds, casting it onto the ground below. Walking up to the body of Sam he took the old man's coat and wrapped it around his chest. The blood soaked collar and back still dripped with the lifeblood of its previous master. Hojo moved forward towards the tent, at last able to pass himself off for a human. The change was absolutely incredible. His flesh was its old white pale familiarity. His hair was back to being its wonderful black nature. His eyes returned to normal, giving him less then wonderful vision at close proximities.

Hojo proceeded forward into the tent where the beautiful woman had run. Inside, quivering with fear behind a wooden crate lay the form of a woman. Hojo looked upon her form and noticed something familiar about her, "Lucrecia? Is that you?"

Hojo's voice became soft, it was no longer the voice of a hungry beast driven to the brink of insanity, "Lucrecia? Lucrecia!?" The woman emerged, beginning to cry, holding a knife to her neck, backed into a corner. Her brown hair and soft face reminded Hojo of his wife.

Her face was stricken with fear, tears flowed freely and all life in her face had left her, raising the sharp blade closer to her neck.

Hojo reached out and grabbed her arm, forcing it down to her side before she could cut herself. The blade dipped low and barely cut her neck as Hojo ripped it away by force. Tearing the blade from her supple hand he looked at the dagger and crushed it to pieces in his hands. The slivers of the knife fell to the ground with not so much as a single sound. Flabbergasted she started to whine, her face stricken with horror at the sight of this man.

Hojo reached closer and kissed her on the lips, Ella tried to push away, but her body became weak and she fell to the ground. The poison on even Hojo's lips was lethal, but from a mere kiss it acted as a tranquilizer. As she fell into his arms a victorious Hojo mused, "Let's go to see our son, honey. Hee hee hee. He's waiting for us."

He picked her up in his unnaturally powerful arms and slung her limp body over his shoulder and walked with her, as if she was no more then a piece of cloth draped over his shoulders. Hojo left the tent and lumbered out into the daylight. The sun shone bright overhead, making Hojo turn his head away from the intense light.

Hojo started to leave Bone Village as a familiar face called out to him, "Where you going, yo?" Hojo kept walking, ignoring the obvious annoyance behind him, not even giving so much as a single glace to Reno.

Behind him the red-haired joker himself waved a short baton in his hands. Smacking it idly into his left hand, the soft tapping of the baton like a drum.

"Yo!"

"…"

"Hey, look at me you deranged mutant freak. Get over the fact you a failed piece of shit and give Daddy Reno a hug, yo!"

Hojo stopped in his tracks, anger boiling in him. He was about to erupt in sheer anger, but he could not let himself endanger his beautiful long-lost wife. Living in a world of delusion and madness, Hojo continued walking away at a steady pace, down the hill and away from Bone Village.

Reno growled and ran at Hojo, his baton ready to deliver punishment into Hojo's face. As he got cose Hojo pivoted, whipping his right arm out and slamming into Reno. The body of Reno was flung through the air and twisted before slamming into a tree, cracking and shaking the tree entirely. The force shook Reno up, but he landed on his feet, his cat-like reflexes in combat had been fully reawakened.

Hojo darted from between the trees, moving swiftly and clearly above the ground, whiping his body around from tree trunk to tree trunk at break-neck pace. He growled like a feral creature as he came for Reno, his mouth agape, baring his teeth at Reno.

Reno gasped and ducked, watching Hojo fly overhead, but something dripped onto his black jacket, instantly burning like fire. Reno's eyes widened and he quickly shook his arms violently as he ripped off his jacket and shirt, flailing wildly to get them off.

Reno turned to look around anticipating Hojo's attack, ready and poised for combat he was ready with his baton. Sound returned to the trees, rustling, chirping of birds. Hojo had seemingly disappeared, but Reno stood ready, knowing the old man was a tricky foe to deal with. All brains no brawn before, but now he was a perfect killing machine. Hojo's experiments have gone too far and he was a bigger threat then ever before.

Reno waited and waited, and still no attack. At last he gave up and pulled out his phone, "This is Reno, we got a problem." 


	9. Reawakening

Author's comments:

Alright! Chapter 9 is up. This has been a hectic time for me and I've made a couple changes to the way this chapter plays out. You'll see the second part of this in Chapter 11. Chapter 10 is going to make many people drool though, early warning. To my main reviewer: The full cast will be back in for Chapter 11, instead of Chapter 15 as planned. To my other readers: Thank you for reading this story! Please leave your comments! I'm getting desperate for more reviews. :D

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth

Chapter 9: Reawakening

Cloud and Tifa sprinted through the woods, searching for their hunters was fruitless in the end. The three had traveled far into the woods and at last they reached a rock and saw the remains of the house which Sephiroth was purposively hiding in.

Cloud looked at the house and shook his head, "Sephiroth would never do this unless he had a purpose, but what was it? What are you thinking…"

Tifa sat down on the rock and looked out at the beautiful trees, the peaceful state of the forst. Lush leaves, birds chirping, the forest was alive with beauty and sound. She stretched out her feet and looked down at her black shirt, it was covered in sap and some dirt; the forest wasn't all that wonderful when you look too closely. With her left hand Tifa brushed off the dirt and sighed, stretching her arm out on the rock, she felt something thick and pulled on it without looking, it was a tuff of overgrown moss or maybe short grass.

As she pulled she ripped it from the rock she felt something splatter onto her vest, it was dark crimson and she turned with horror to what she held in her hands. She held a broken and fractured skull in her hand by the victims hair. She screamed, "OH DEAR GOD! AHHHHH!" and shook her arm wildly, throwing the disgusting remains into the woods. Cloud turned just in time to see the piece of head as she threw it into the woods.

Tifa started to shake and closed her eyes, losing all the color in her face. She put both arms together and hid her head into her right arm over her left arm and screamed and screamed over and over, "NO! PLEASE NO! NOT AGAIN! NOOOOOOO!" Tifa's form became weaker and weaker as she broke into sobs and refused to acknowledge anyone's existence. She reverted to the child she was twelve years ago, overwhelmed with death and afraid to witness the gruesome reality. Truth be told, even she was shooken up at Aeris's death from Sephiroth.

She was a strong woman, but the one she could not take well was death. Her fears realized once more when holding the piece of Adam in her own hand. Grasping her herself with both hands she let the long delayed tears come loose, simply overwhelmed by what she seen.

Cloud was more reserved and acted like it, leaning down and comforting Tifa, embracing her in both arms. He gently hugged her and Tifa looked up at her husband's face. The tears stopping flowing and she regained her composure, reaching out and embracing Cloud tightly.

Blonde overwhelmed with disgust at the affection turned away rolling his eyes at the lovers, "Jeeze…this stuff again." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a black phone, different than his other phone to contact Yuffie. A voice spoke from the phone, a cold voice, business-like and uncaring, "What do you want?"

Blonde became flustered his cheeks puffed out as he inhaled, almost choking on the air, "Sir…"

"Spit it out, I don't have time for your games, Blonde."

Flustered and worried Blonde spoke into the phone, "Target lost." Awaiting Reeve's replies was the most dangerous part of his job. His heart jumped when Reeve sighed and commanded, "Kalm, now." The head of the W.R.O. was always liked that, making him scared like a child about to confess a secret love or a nervous boyfriend about to ask his girl to marry him. Such trivialities between him and his boss were scary for the brief moments in which they communicated.

His brown furled a little at remembering Cloud and Tifa, as respectable as they were, embracing each other and began to feel incredibly jealous of their open relationship. Love was one thing Blonde had never known, even the scent of his own mother eluded him. His childhood stolen by Hojo and his experiments to make perfect SOLDIERs. He silently condemned his creator and closed the top over the small black phone, placing it into his pocket once more.

He turned his attention to Cloud, still embracing Tifa and felt disgusted again. He cleared his through with a few fake coughs, forcing Cloud and Tifa to stand on their own two legs without embracing each other like children before a final goodbye. He brushed his long hair back with a wave of his hand, "Reeve is going to meet us at Kalm. This is going to get a little hairy." He straightened his black Turk-like suit, cracked his neck with a twist and headed north towards the exit, and on his way he just about snapped, broke or twisted every branch in his way. He left a humbled Cloud and Tifa behind who quickly quickened their normal pace to catch up to Blonde who was almost out of sight by the time they realized they were heading to Kalm.

Reeve sat in his chair, idly tapping a black ball-point pen on the table of his office. The elegant table was in pristine condition except for several deep scrapes into the desk, of about the same size and thickness of the end of a ball point pen. The first of which looked aged and rather old, but could possibly be from two years ago with Deepground.

He reached under the desk and pulled out a heavy book, bound in leather with the words, "AVALANCHE" on it. The book made the desk shake as he dropped the dusty book on the table. The pages still fresh and unopened, but covered with the dust of the years that passed from the incident Reeve hoped would stay dead. He reached over and grabbed a beautiful cup with painted roses on it, filled to the brim with black coffee, and took a deep drink and finished the entire cup in an instant. Letting out a deep sigh of contemplation he opened the electronic pages, reliving the troubles of his younger years.

Barret Wallace, leader of the 2nd AVALANCHE. The man looked no more special then anyone else, his bulk covered up his passion and genius. For years he eluded the Turks and made at least two successful missions against the Mako Reactors before months of planning and an elaborate trap was sprung on him and the team in No. 5. Reeve had great respect for the man and had no animosity between what was once the most villainous and dangerous man in Midgar. The defiant look on his face in the picture of his profile was testament to the conviction and passion of this extraordinary man, who endured severe pain and trauma into a literal and metaphorical weapon against Shinra. Reeve hoped that him and Barret could continue in renewed vigor to meet a now unified goal of protecting the planet.

On the next page was the beautiful Tifa Lockheart, another legendary figure who had eluded Reeve. Fists of fury, kicks of awesome power. With a single hit she could kill a normal man, trained under a elite master in the ways of martial arts. Now the wife of the most powerful man in the world. The page describes how she settled down with Cloud after what was the latest crisis to the planet. She had grown into a powerful and commanding woman, running a successful bar and delivery operation as well as assisting the W.R.O.

Reeve turned another page of the book, this time the electronic paper of the book reacted violently and a image protruded from the paper. A hologram of the most powerful two men in history stood side by side. Sephiroth and his eternal enemy Cloud. Sephiroth stood facing Cloud, swords clashed in mid-air. The only picture recorded from the fight over Midgar. It seemed as if Sephiroth's defeat was unexpected, but Reeve began to think about the situation.

He twirled in his chair, "Sephiroth…Sephiroth…Sephiroth…SEPHIROTH." A image manifested in his own mind of the laughing figure of Sephiroth, sword clenched in hand. The image of the madman himself upon receiving one of many of his orders in Wutai. He was cold and brutal, he would never lose, even in the beginning war games he lost the first two rounds of a new game before he mastered it, but even more brutal was his fight with Sapphire.

Many years ago in Midgar, when the land was much greener with life, the elite training facilities established by Shinra had once challenged Sephiroth. He was still a young man and was aspiring to be the best he could be and had entered into a showdown between the product of Deepground.

"Sephiroth, what are you doing?! Sephiroth?" called a blue haired boy. His dyed hair was short and spiky, although young he carried an oversized cleaver on his back, similar to Zack's sword. Encased in what appeared to be chains and heavy weights on his legs and arms the youthful boy was absolutely heartless.

Sephiroth looked up and drew his katana, of which was around four feet long. This was his first blade and the first weapon he would kill with. Sephiroth's eyes focused on the man, "You have a death wish or something?" Sephiroth's eyes narrowed on the boy coldly.

The two stood in a white walled room, heavy steel reinforced walls surrounded the two, the room was a sparring match for SOLDIER. Thick plate glass surrounded the top of the room up around fifty feet from the floor. Hojo stood against the glass, smirking down upon his son, "You know Azer, that my boy will slaughter this upstart. Hee hee hee."

A bearded old man in his wheelchair simply turned and laughed derisively at Hojo, albeit coughing a few times in the middle of it. The wheelchair confined man covered in his long beard had a bald head and a withered body, it looked as though he would die shortly from some illness that ravaged him.

"Hah. You're still young. Your opinion and such doesn't matter at all. Sapphire will defeat your prodigy."

Hojo grinned, pushing his glasses back in place, staring intently down at the two boys who were about to fight for their pride and honor as SOLDIERs.

Sephiroth pointed his sword at Sapphire, "You really want to die. Don't you? Your pitiful existence in this world is further marred sunlight. Vampire. Come, I'll send you now!"

The cold eyes of Sapphire grew impossibly cold, the eyes of a being of pure hatred. Sapphire was a test subject for what would be later be called Deepground and would have fourteen battalions to serve as the ultimate army of Shinra, a competition of SOLDIER in the military. Today was the fight between the ultimate product of SOLDIER and the ultimate product of Deepground.

Sapphire charged at Sephiroth still in the process of ripping his Zanbato off his back. Sephiroth spun and slashed his katana at Sapphire, the Zanbato parried Sephiroth's attack and nearly cut off Sephiroth's arm in the process. The Zanbato cut into the left shoulder paldron, cracking it and wedging into the flesh, cutting through the skin. Sapphire tried to lift the sword, but the odd angle made it difficult. Sephiroth raised his left hand into the air and stabbed at Sapphire, piercing the boy in the heart. A shower of blood erupting from the wound along with a bitter cry as the sword cut through him. Blood erupted on Sephiroth's face, showering him in the crimson tears of his enemy, "Die you little vampire, die."

Hojo started laughing as he heard what Sephiroth said, but a worried Azer growled, "He's a monster…you're boy is a monster! How'd he survive that hit?" Hojo turned to Azer and laughed more, mocking his rival. Showered in the blood of Sapphire, Sephiroth drew back his sword and watched the body slump to the ground. Reeve stood silently watching the fight, like many of the other Turks. They had witnessed an anti-climatic fight between two competing projects.

Reeve remembered the look on Sephiroth's face, he was just as arrogant as Sapphire, but somehow fate was on Sephiroth's side that day. It kept on being on his side throughout the war and long after. Sephiroth was the perfect soldier, but he soon became the world's biggest problem and through a combined defeat of Shinra and AVALANCHE he was stopped, but with no body ever recovered, was this his third attempt they now faced?

The story surrounding Aurum was unusual, but it had the feeling of Sephiroth to it. Aurum literally destroyed an entire town and burnt it to the ground after stealing huge amounts of gold. The gold pieces were extremely heavy, but within just hours after the destruction not a single piece of gold was found in the bank or anywhere. Reeve decided to call in everyone before it was too late and picked up his black phone.


	10. Nightmare

Author's Comments:

No reviews last chapter yet, but that's okay. Chapter 10 has been edited a little for content, but still is better overall now that I cut away most the the epic fight part for later. This is where the plot thickens and everything starts to become a little more complex. Now here is the obligatory fight! Please enjoy. :)

Final Fantasy 7: The Rebirth of Sephiroth

Chapter 10: Nightmare

The lightning crashed and the ground shook. Darkness swept down from the hills and blanketed Cloud and Sephiroth in darkness. Sephiroth's Masamune was drawn and Cloud drew his First Ken.

"This ends here Sephiroth!" yelled Cloud.

Sephiroth flew at Cloud and Cloud lunged in, swinging swords the ground exploded beneath them. Energy shot from the tip of Sephiroth's Masamune at it connected with Cloud's blade, sparks shot forth as the swords connected. The two landed on the ground, energy swirling around Cloud, a green surge of energy ripped from the ground and encased him. Sephiroth recoiled and drew back, a black aura forming around him, seeping into the ground and spreading around.

Sephiroth lunged again sword outstretched, the Masamune directed at Cloud's heart. Almost instantly Cloud blocked the thin blade with his First Ken and swung it away, running into Sephiroth.

Directing the hilt down the Masamune connected with the base of the sword and he pushed away, digging both feet into the ground and throwing Cloud into the air. Sephiroth raised his right hand to the sky and a flash of light in a circle glowed. Cloud saw it only for a second, but a triangle surrounding a circle with inscription formed. The light glowed brighter and the glyph was completed. Two triangles bound within a circle in a square surrounded in a rhombus with a final circle and four seals around it. The seal of fire. Glowing red like fire.

The ground shook and a great beast arose from the flames, like a devil from Hell Ifrit broke from the surface and appeared. Cloud landed on his feet just as the summoning was completed and lunged at the beast. He ran at the beast as fire shot from the ground, an attempt to burn him away by Ifrit.

Sephiroth swung at Cloud forcing Cloud to parry and push himself away, the hell demon inhaled and spewed fire from his mouth at Cloud. Its burning fists swung at Cloud.

Cloud raised his sword and struck the beast, severing Ifrit's right and then dragging his blade around and severing the left arm in two quick swings of his sword. Leaving no chance for another attack Cloud pressed in as Ifrit let out a terrible warcry and his arms reformed only to form too late as Cloud pierced the demon's chest with his sword and kicked off him, escaping the clenching arms and flying over the head of the beast bringing his sword sword onto its head as he landed, driving it down with his weight.

The sword stabbed into Ifrit's head and the spirit of the demon was released, the form disappeared and from her peripheral vision Cloud saw Sephiroth raising his left hand with the sword pointed high into the air.

Cloud moved back and the Masamune slammed into the ground, digging in purposively as a center for Sephiroth to swing himself around and slam both feet into Cloud's chest, flinging him high into the air. Sephiroth released the Masamune from the ground and shot into the air after Cloud. Seperated by only three feet Sephiroth's speed brought him within easy striking distance of Cloud.

Cloud recoiled from the kick and swung his sword out at Sephiroth, the swords collided and sparks flew. Sephiroth unleashed a powerful onslaught of stabs and swings upon Cloud in the air. Cloud parried each one in succession and changed the position of his body downward as he fell, stretching his feet out.

As Cloud landed on the ground he pushed off and slammed his sword forward into the Masamune, forcing Sephiroth backwards. As Sephiroth's long hair suddenly covered his face from the quick change of direction Cloud pushed in, but Sephiroth gave a short laugh and deflected Cloud's thrust with ease. The recoil was strong enough to throw Cloud off balance and stunned him from following up with his own onslaught.

Sephiroth landed on his feet and with his right hand and taunted him, "What's wrong Cloud? You can't do it?" Sephiroth charged in again, jumping in front of Cloud and leaping over him, stabbing his sword down on Cloud from above. Cloud ran from the strike with a quick duck and wildly swung his sword back behind him to catch Sephiroth as he landed. The swords connected, but Sephiroth pushed in and slammed Cloud's sword into his back and flung him forward.

Cloud landed on his chest and started to get up, but a blast of ice shot from the ground forcing him to roll over. As soon as he rolled over another burst formed and threatened to impale him on the ground. He kept rolling as spike after spike threatened to finish him, but he quickly got onto his feet just to see Sephiroth running towards the line of ice spikes, swinging his Masamune at them, cutting clean through them as he ran towards Cloud. Cloud stood ready to deflect the hit, but on the last spike only a foot from Cloud now, Sephiroth flattened the Masamune and used the spike as a balance to throw the ice into Cloud and spin around still coming at Cloud.

Cloud chopped the thick ice in half with a cleave of the sword, but Sephiroth's Masamune came in right after from the left. Barely dodging it Cloud threw himself to the ground as Sephiroth spun past and stabilized himself on the ground.

"Come, quell my fury with your sword!" called Sephiroth. He stood waiting for Cloud to come to him. The Masamune at his side. The oversized katana outstretched, awaiting Cloud.

Cloud got to his feet, holding his head wearily with his left hand, "Sephiroth! Where is this? What have you done to me, you bastard!" Cloud looked in all directions, but nothing else then barren wasteland and a endless darkened sky surrounded him. Engulfed in darkness Sephiroth stood alone as a master of this world created for Cloud.

Sephiroth raised his hand to Cloud as if reaching out for him, "This is the future of this world. Once I have returned I shall rule over this wasteland and leave this wretched world forever. You worthless humans have stolen this planet from Mother, but I will not let you do it any longer!"

Sephiroth swung his hands into the sky, the clouds parted and an unnaturally beautiful blue was revealed. The grown burst forth long grass, trees and flowers. Life sprung force from the wasteland and embraced the sky. What would have taken thousands of years to do was instantly done in seconds. Mako spewed forth from the ground and shot into the sky, the planet embraced the Lifestream and it grew into bands, spreading out and covering everything in a thick mist.

The green mist became wild and furious, reacting violently and soothingly in nature. All of a sudden the Mist vanished and the lush life turned to nothing, leaving the planet. Only the wasteland remained.

Sephiroth approached Cloud, "This is the life cycle of a planet given life by the Lifestream. Planets are mere houses for the Lifestream to grow. Then it becomes dangerous as a thick mist and covers the planet. Then at last it grows unstable in its over crowded environment, killing everything, drawing all it has up and leaving the planet to a new one. Leaving a destroyed and desolate wasteland behind. Sometimes the Lifestream becomes part of the planet and becomes stable. Death and draining the Lifeforce is the only way to keep it in check. Mother is the guardian angel of planets, creating balance."

Cloud looked into Sephiroth's glassy eyes coldly with skepticism, "What does this have to do with me?" Sephiroth circled Cloud slowly, with a grin on his face.

"Out with it Sephiroth!"

"Such fury…"

Cloud raised his sword to Sephiroth's neck, "Tell me before I end this illusion of yours and finish you off once and for all."

Sephiroth at last satisfied whispered into Cloud's ear. Cloud's eyes widened and fell to the ground, shattered. Sephiroth only grinned and Cloud shook his head before screaming, "You lie! You lie! LIAR! Heartless bastard! HEARTLESS BASTARD! STOP FUCKING WITH ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Cloud grabbed his sword and stabbed out at Sephiroth, "Die! Damn you! Die!" Sephiroth easily moved, Cloud's skill and ability impaired by his anger and tears turned him into a child. Sephiroth swung his sword at Cloud, thrusting through the chest.

Cloud gasped in pain, "This….is….REAL?" Blood ran down his leather jacket and filled with sudden realization of what Sephiroth was intending to do to him. Cloud grabbed the sword with both hands, cutting into him and forced it from his body and down into the dirt.

"You're sick. You are disgusting beyond all belief."

Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's chin with his strong hand and lifted it up so Cloud could look into his superior eyes, "Are you afraid of me? You constantly thought about me ever since we met…no…before that even. Why do you run from your own feelings?"

Cloud gritted his teeth and yelled, "You're evil."

Sephiroth drew back slightly, "I am about to be a God, I want to share it with you. You will be my Sin, Cloud." Cloud drew back and looked at Sephiroth, wondering what he was talking about.

"Sin?"

"The body of God in the world. Through you I will speak, even after I leave this world. Will you free me, Cloud? I cannot die, this life is torture! Come! Set me free for good! Quell my anger, not with your sword, but with love."

Cloud glared at him, "You'll take Jenova to?"

Sephiroth nodded.

"What do I get out of it?"

Sephiroth though for a moment and smiled, "Your life, your memories and…"

"I won't do it!"

"…your wife."

Cloud gasped and he awakened in the middle of the forest. Blood poured from Blonde's chest, a needle was stuck in Cloud's arm. Tifa was gone. Cloud looked at his sword, covered in blood. Had he really just murdered Blonde without even knowing it? Cloud looked up the sky and yelled, "SEPHIROTH!"


End file.
